Old Nightmare
by KorovaMilkBar
Summary: When Jack left the Autobots after his misadventure aboard the Nemesis, what was the real reason behind it? He said he couldn't handle the day to day with them, but Arcee suspects that it's something more. Jack and June are harboring secrets about their pasts, and soon it comes back to haunt them.
1. Chapter 1

Jack was raised to never lift his hand to a woman, but Miko was asking for it right on that air filled head of hers. How could she be so clueless about this? The two of them, along with Rafael and Agent Fowler were almost killed by the Decepticons, and she was acting like it was all some big video game. Rafael was shaken up pretty badly, Fowler was hurt by that one tall, creepy looking 'Con, and even with Jack's own "experiences", he was pretty freaked out by all this as well. Granted, their little "adventure" turned up some equation of some kind that could be useful to the Autobots, but things were getting too dangerous for Jack, and he's had enough danger to last a lifetime. Ratchet and Optimus Prime returned to base shortly after the rest of the team did, looking like they had been through hell and back. Jack was all too familiar with that feeling. When Ratchet revealed what he and Optimus had been through, Jack felt the blood drain from his body.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors."

What? Undead...? Jack could feel his heart going into overdrive, and bits of sweat seeping through his pores. 'Not again' he thought, 'I can't do this again.' Of course, Miko thought it was the coolest thing in the world, while Jack thought it was another nightmare.

"Zombies? You fought zombies, and I missed it?"

Was she freaking kidding? Miko showed Ratchet the "equation" that they had found aboard the Nemesis. Miko was still acting like it was all fun and games.

"At least that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill."

Jack had enough at that point. Someone needed to hit Miko with a dose of reality, the reality that they were all in danger.

"Miko, Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull?"

"Hm, we were all almost killed Jack, you, me, Raf even them!"

What? That was her argument? Almost doesn't count, like it was some kind of...Jack stopped trying to understand her logic, and made a decision, one he knew was for the best. If zombie robots were coming to Earth, the Autobots can handle it. He, on the other hand, was done.

"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots then I don't wanna be a part of it, not anymore."

What else could he do? Nothing he'd experienced had prepared him for this. He was of no use to the Autobots, and couldn't do anything to try and stop whatever horrors Megatron was cooking up. He couldn't do it...not again. The base felt like it was getting smaller, and Jack needed to get out of there. To his credit, he kept his composure, but he was in a state of panic on the inside. Optimus had assured him that he had not intended to endanger his or the other children's lives, but respected his decision to leave. Jack was thankful for that. Despite what happened, he had come to respect the Prime a great deal. Ratchet was all too happy to send Jackson off. As the groundbridge flared to life, Jack walked in it's direction, before he remembered something. He looked back, and saw that Rafael was not following him.

"Come on, Raf."

But the boy was hesitant, as if he was unwilling to leave. 'Please come with me, Raf.' Jack silently pleaded. He didn't want to leave him here, to be in danger. Ultimately, the boy made his decision as well.

"I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."

Everything in Jack wanted to grab the boy and run...and tell him the truth about what really happened in...No, he couldn't tell anyone. No one could know. Still, Rafael was going to stay with the Autobots, and there was nothing Jack could do but hope for the best.

"Sure thing...Take care of yourself Raf."

The way he said it caught the attention of both Optimus and Arcee. He spoke as if he didn't expect to ever see Rafael again. Something had changed in the teen, Arcee realized. As he walked to the groundbridge, she stood in his path.

"I know, you don't exist."

"Don't make me hunt you down."

She meant that as a joke, but Jack winced when she said it. Something was wrong with him, and she could see it. He went past her, and through the groundbridge without saying anything else. There was a bit of awkwardness in the air after he had left. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were kind of bummed to see him go. Arcee was as well, but also worried. Despite her initial coldness towards Jack, she had come to like him somewhat. He was young, but very mature for his age. Optimus was concerned as well, considering the youngling's demeanor before he left.

"It's for the best, Optimus." Ratchet spoke up. "The Decepticons have bigger things to worry about than one human child. The boy should be safe. We have bigger things to worry about as well, and one less human to protect would allow us to deal them more efficiently."

"Yes...you are right, old friend."

"Of course I am. Besides, the kid didn't have much spark to him anyway. His stress level was going through the roof before he left."

"I had noticed Ratchet, and that is what concerns me."

"You saw it too." Arcee had said as she walked up to them.

"He's just a human sparkling, Arcee. The other two are the odd ones for _not_ being afraid." Ratchet rationalized.

"You are correct, Ratchet. But it was not until we spoke of our battle with Megatron that he had begun to show signs of panic."

"Maybe he saw a really scary zombie movie when he was a kid and is super scared of them now." Miko butted in from the walkway. "Me, I hate spiders. I know I'd be scared if I came across some giant spider-con or something like that."

Optimus and Ratchet winced, while Arcee glared at the teen. Bulkhead stepped in before she could say anything else.

"Uh..hey Miko, let's watch another monster truck rally before we take you home, huh?"

Arcee brushed off Miko's thoughtless comment, and thought again about Jack. Aboard the Nemesis, he managed to keep his cool pretty well, which impressed her to say the least. So why were undead Cybertronians causing so much fear in him? As the day went by, and Bumblebee and Bulkhead took their charges home, Arcee was still thinking about Jack. She was still worrying about him, but she was also beginning to miss him. Seeing how Bulk and Bee were getting along so well with Raf and Miko made Arcee wish he hadn't left. Without Cliffjumper around, she really needed a friend. She didn't want to be closed off like she was before him, when Tailgate was taken from her. The thought of Jack not returning to base felt like another loss for her. She wanted Jack to come back, but she wasn't gonna force him. He had to come back on his own, and she hoped that after some time away, he would.

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When Jack left the bridge into his garage, the first thing he did was call his mother. She wasn't in any danger as far as he knew, but he had to be sure. He frantically dialed her number, and waited for her to pick up. Calling her during work hours was something he was told not to do unless it was an emergency, and he'd hope she would understand him risking her getting in trouble. The other line rang a few times with no answer.

"Please pick up, Mom."

After about five rings, he heard the voice of June Darby on the other end, which filled him with relief.

"Jack?"

"Mom, are you alright?" Jack asked a little too quickly.

June paused on the other end, most likely in confusion.

"I'm...I'm fine, sweety."

"You sure, nothing happened?"

Again, another pause. Now June was getting worried.

"I'm alright Jack...Honey, what wrong?"

Jack let out a sigh of relief, and sat down on the garage floor with his free hand on his head.

"Jack, you're scaring me. Is everything alright?"

"It's...it's fine, Mom. I'm sorry."

"Jackson, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"It's just... I had a nightmare."

June paused for a third time, letting it register what he was talking about.

"A nightmare...or _that_ nightmare?

Jack's silence answered her question.

"Oh, Jack."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I shouldn't have called you with something so stupid."

"No Jack, I'm glad you called me. Are you okay?"

"...I feel better, knowing that you're alright."

"Of course I am, sweetheart...Jackson, we're safe here. Nothing like that is ever going to happen again. And as long as we don't talk to anyone about it, like they said, no one will bother us. You still have her number right?"

"Yes...She changed it again, but I have it written down, and it's on my phone."

"Good. If we find ourselves in danger again, she'll help us, just like before. But that won't happen, because the people who were responsible have already been brought down. Besides, I still have both vials in the safe, and you know the combination. It'll be okay, Jack. That's all in the past."

Jack breathed in and out to calm himself. His mother had become really good at helping him forget about what happened.

"Do you need me to come home, Jack?"

"No Mom, I'm fine."

"I love you, sweety."

"I love you too, Mom. Thank you."

The call disconnected, and Jack stood in the garage for a minute or two. When he went in the house, he went straight into his room and into his closet. In the shelf space, he had a lock box with the key still in it. He put the box on his bed and opened it to reveal a loaded pistol. It was a Walther P22, small enough for a novice like him to handle, but enough to do what it was meant to do. Also in the lock box was a box of ammo and a spare magazine. He examined the pistol, unloading the magazine and chamber, and pulled the trigger to see if it was functioning properly. Once he was satisfied with the weapon, he packed it back up, and went to put it in his closet. Before he did, he stopped and decided to leave it under his bed for easier access. He'd hoped to God that he would never have to use it, but kept it close just in case. He left his room, went into his mother's bedroom, and checked her nightstand. After finding "something" he'd wish he didn't find along with several packs of batteries in her bottom draw, he found another pistol in her top. This one was a loaded Glock 23, also with a spare mag and ammo. He examined this one, same as his own, and saw that it still functioned well enough. As much as his mother hated guns, she made sure to get a license to carry when she and Jack moved to Jasper, and bought and registered both handguns in her name. She and Jack took shooting lessons together, just in case they had to use them again. Jack wished she would carry her gun with her, instead of leaving it at home. He couldn't carry his, for obvious reasons, but she could at least keep hers in her purse or something. Jack then locked all the doors in the house, and decided he was too tired to do anything else. He changed into some clothes fit for sleeping in, and laid down in his bed. But when you think about something too much, it sticks around even when you're not thinking. Jack hadn't had one of his nightmares in over five years, but after the events of today, they were back with a vengeance. Sleep was not gonna come easy to the poor kid.

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 _Jack was sitting in the waiting area of the hospital his mother worked at. She couldn't find a babysitter that day, and brought him to work with her. Back then, June didn't work so many hours because she was still married. Her shift should've ended a few hours ago, but minutes before she could clock out, several people were brought in with serious injuries. Jack didn't see them being brought in, but he did hear a few of them screaming, which made him want to search for his mother. But he understood that her work was very important, and she needed him to be tough. After all, he was ten years old already. Minutes went by, when Jack heard the sounds of screaming and people running outside. He was scared, no doubt, but also wondering what was happening. He stepped outside of the the waiting area, into the sign-in section. A few of the other nurses and patients were also around, trying to figure out what was happening. He peeked down a long hallway, and he saw a teenage boy standing just outside the doorway. Jack didn't like the way he was standing, so he didn't go any closer. The teen stood where he was, not acknowledging anything around him. One of the nurses went up to him, to see what he was doing. He turned his face to reveal a good chunk of it was missing, seemingly bit off. The nurse recognized him as one of the patients who was brought in earlier, and ran over to help him. But once he got close enough, the teen lunged at him, and immediately began tearing his throat out with his teeth. Jack was frozen in place when that happened, unable to move a single muscle. He couldn't even manage to scream, even after one of the other nurses did. The "monster", as Jack decided he was, brought the nurse down, and continued to gnaw at his chest. The entire time, his screams were piercing through the child. A few of the doctors tried to pull the teenager off of the nurse, only to be bitten themselves. Finally, Jack felt himself being lifted off his feet, and carried away from the monster. Once they were both outside, Jack looked up to see it was Dr. Knowles, or Tara as his mother would call her outside of work._

 _"Are you okay, Jacks? Are you hurt?"_

 _Jack was too shocked to say anything._

 _'That boy was eating them,' he thought 'like a monster. But monsters don't exist, Mom and Dad said so.'_

 _Tara looked him in his eyes, full of fear and concern._

 _"Jackson, look at me."_

 _Jack finally registered who was in front of him, and buried his face in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, as she tried her best to calm the crying child._

 _"It's okay, Jacks. It's over now. The bad man is gone. Look, the police are here."_

 _Jack looked behind him, and saw a few police cars pull up to the hospital. They exited their vehicles, hands on their weapons._

 _"See that, it's okay now."_

 _Jack had stopped crying, but was still trembling from what happened._

 _"I know you're scared Jacks. But, I'm gonna stay with you until we find your mother, okay?"_

 _'Mother, Mom! Where is she?' Jack thought in a panic._

 _If she was still in the hospital, then she was still with the monster. Jack was about to run back into the hospital and go save his mother, but Tara had taken his hand before he could do anything. They waited outside for a moment or two, Tara asking every doctor or nurse if they had seen his mother._

 _"Penelope!_

 _Tara had caught the attention of another doctor, a woman with brown hair. Jack had often seen his mother talking to her. She called her Dr. Young._

 _"Tara!"_

 _"Penny, have you seen June?"_

 _"Nurse Darby? I..."_

 _She noticed Tara holding Jack's hand._

 _"Oh my god, she's still in there. She was with one of the patients."_

 _"Wait you mean, the ones that..."_

 _Before she could finish, Jack pulled his hand away, and darted straight for the hospital. Both Tara and Dr. Young called for him in a panic, trying to grab him before he could get away. He had to rescue his mom, he told his dad he would protect her. He was the man of the house, and his mother needed him. He could hear Dr. Young and Tara frantically calling out for him, and saw a police officer try to grab him before he went into the building. Jack was too quick for him, and made it past him into the hospital. Inside, it was practically abandoned. Jack could hear the sounds of shoes squeaking in the distance, but nobody was in sight. He hid himself from the officer who chased after him, until he left the building. Once the coast was clear, he started walking slowly down the empty hallways, in search of his mother. As brave as he was being, he was as terrified as a child could be in the situation. Every now and again, some sound off in the distance made him flinch and look to see where it was coming from. He was scared, and desperately wanted his mother. But he couldn't shake the feeling that she was in trouble. Suddenly, he heard loud popping sounds from somewhere in the hospital. He knew they were guns going off, and that could only mean the police had found the monster. But before he could feel relief in knowing the monster was gone, he heard more sounds of screaming and running._

 _'No, the monster ate them too."_

 _Jack ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, hoping to run into his mother somewhere along the way._

 _'Mom's okay. She'll be okay, you'll see Jack. Mom's just hiding.'_

 _But even at ten, Jack was smart enough to know that if June was still in the hospital, it was because she was looking for him. Jack stopped in his tracks when he realized where she could be._

 _'No.'_

 _She told him to wait in that room, where he saw the monster. She would be looking for him there, where the monster ate the doctors, and maybe the policeman. The monster could be trying to eat her right now. But if he wanted to save her, then he had to go back. Jack shut his eyes tight, and ran back to hallway that led to the entrance. He turned down the hall which led to the waiting area. There, he saw several people, police included, lying on the floor. When he got closer, he saw that they were all bleeding. Jack's voice hitched in his throat. He wanted to scream, but something wouldn't let him. Then he heard the sound of a woman crying from around the corner._

 _'Mom?'_

 _He turned the corner, and saw what would haunt him for years to come. A short, dark skinned woman was lying in the floor, with bite marks over her face, shoulder and arms. The same teen, the one who ate the doctors, was tearing chunks of her leg off with his teeth. She wasn't even putting up a fight, she was just waiting to die. Jack stared at the horrific image for over a minute, before he released the breath he was holding in, which caught the monster's attention. He slowly looked at the black haired boy, and rose from his meal. He walked towards Jackson, who was too scared to run away. It got closer and closer, arms stretched to take hold of the boy, intending to devour him. It was right in front of Jack, ready to take him._

 _"JACK!"_

 _Jack knew that voice, and before he could turn around, June had already closed the gap between them. With a broken mop handle in her grasp, she smashed it across the monsters face, sending him stumbling back into the wall. Before he could get back up, June grabbed her son, and ran to the exit as fast as her feet could take her. By the time she was outside, everything had finally registered with the boy. His mother was safe, and they got away from the monster. Relief, fear, and just general exhaustion set in, causing the boy to cry in his mother's arms. But she did not comfort him right away. Instead, she set him down and began frantically searching his body for any injuries. When she saw that he was unharmed, she held the boy's face and stared into his eyes._

 _"Jack, are you alright?"_

 _Jack didn't say anything, he just went back into her shoulder, and let out all of his cries as hard as he could. She held him tightly, letting tears fall from her eyes as well._

 _"It's okay baby, it's okay. I'm here now, it's over."_

 _"But I couldn't 'hic' I couldn't find 'hic' you."_

 _"I'm sorry Jack. I tried to come look for you, but everyone was running and screaming...I was so afraid someone was gonna hurt you."_

 _"Mommy 'hic''hic' was that a 'hic''hic' monster?"_

 _"No, Baby. It was just a bad person. But we're going home now, okay? We'll be safe there."_

 _"I want 'hic' Daddy 'hic'."_

 _"I know sweety, so do I."_

 _June held Jack even tighter, trying to ease her son's frantic crying. Tara and Dr. Young ran up to her and Jack._

 _"Oh my God, June!" Tara said as she ran up to the nurse._

 _She and Dr. Young saw that she was with Jack, and breathed in relief that the boy was alright._

 _"Thank God, you found him. Jack, why did you.."_

 _Tara was cut off by Dr. Young. Seeing that the boy was terrified, she felt he didn't need to be reprimanded any further. She leaned over, and looked at the crying boy in concern._

 _"Are you okay, angel?"_

 _Jack merely shook his head. He was far from okay. June held him closer to her._

 _"Me and Jack are going home, Dr. Young. I'm sorry, but we need to get out of here."_

 _"Forget home, June. You and Jack get in your car and leave the city now. Something weird is happening and you two need to get out as fast as you can."_

 _June then noticed that a S.W.A.T. van had pulled up to the hospital and people were beginning to gather in a panic._

 _"Can you reach your husband?" Tara asked._

 _June shook her head._

 _"I tried his cell while I was looking for Jack. The service went dead in this area. What the hell is going on?"_

 _"It doesn't matter. Just take Jack and go. Call him when you're out of the city."_

 _Tara put her hand on Jack's head, ruffling his hair_

 _"It'll be okay, Jacks. You're Mom's not gonna let anything happen to you."_

 _"You're not getting your car anywhere in this mess." Dr. Young added._

 _The streets were clogged with cars trying to get somewhere._

 _"I'll figure something out."_

 _Tara knelt down and took one of Jack's hands._

 _"Bye Jacks, be good okay? Listen to your mother."_

 _Dr. Young knelt down and hugged the boy close._

 _"Be strong for your Mommy, okay angel? Can you do that?"_

 _Jack nodded, and the doctor kissed him on his forehead. Both doctors hugged June, and bid her farewell._

 _"Good luck, June." Tara said with a hint of sadness._

 _"You be safe, Tara."_

 _"Be careful. Get your boy out of here."_

 _"Thank you, Penelope."_

 _Jack and June left the hospital and tried to make their may across the street. As they did, they heard people shouting, running up from behind some of the cars. June saw that they all had panicked looks on their faces. When she heard car doors opening, and the passengers abandoning their vehicles, she and Jack knew something was wrong. She took Jack by the hand, and the two of them got on top of one of the abandoned vehicles. At the foot of the traffic, Jack saw more people running towards them, each more terrified than the last. Further back, he saw them, the monsters, eating people who weren't fast enough. Jack grabbed his mother's arm and held it tight, waiting for the both of them to start running. But she didn't move._

 _"Mom?"_

 _Jack looked further back, where June's gaze was being held with disbelief. More monsters, dozens of them, coming their way. And there was nothing to stop them. This time, Jack didn't move. Fear had paralyzed his whole body. They were all covered in blood, teeth visible from where they were standing, and snarling at anyone they could get their hands on. He heard screams of agony, as people were being torn apart, and feasted upon by them. Jack heard the cry of a baby, and a woman screaming. He looked around, and saw a young mother being brought to the ground by the monsters. She struggled and screamed, trying to protect her baby from them. But her screams of panic became screams of pain, as their teeth dug into her body, and dragged her away from her baby. Another group quickly grabbed at the baby, and then..._

 _"Come on, Jack! We have to go!"_

 _Jack didn't hear her, or anything over the sound of the baby screaming in utter agony. The screaming lasted only a second or two before it stopped, but Jack could still hear it in his head. He couldn't feel his mother tugging him in the opposite direction, trying to get him to run. All he saw were the monsters getting closer._

 _"Jack, come on!"_

 _Closer_

 _"Jackson, we have to run!"_

 _Closer_

 _"Jack, Please!"_

 _Closer_

 _"Jack! Jack!"_

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"Jack? Jack, honey, wake up."

Jack snapped his eyes open. The blurry vision before him took the shape of a woman with his mother's face. She was staring down at him, concerned as she always was. When it registered with him to where he was, he sat up and grabbed her.

"Jack?"

His hands frantically ran up and down her body, as if searching for something. June took hold of his hands, and looked him right in his gray-blue eyes.

"Jack, Jack stop. It's okay."

Jack stopped moving his hands.

"I'm fine sweety. There's no zombies here."

Jack looked at her with his eyes still wide from his nightmare. Once he realized that it was all, in fact, just a dream, he grabbed June and hugged her as if she'd disappear if he let go. She put her arms around her teenage son, feeling his body tremble in her grasp.

"It's alright Jackson...It's alright."  
_

 **So I'm gonna be upfront with you all, I have no idea where I'm going with this. This was an idea that's been rattling in my head for while now. But I only banged it out because I was up all night with a head cold, and needed something to pass the time. Aside for the next couple of chapters, I have no idea where to take this story, or how far to take it. I wish I could say how often I'll have chapters up, but that's up in the air right. I can't even say if I'll be able to finish it. If anyone wants to bounce some ideas off of me, I've got an open mind, and am willing to hear you out. In any case, I hope you enjoy what I have so far. So thanks giving it a look, and may the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.**


	2. Chapter 2

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June waited in silence, as her teenaged son held her close. She rubbed his back, hoping it would calm him down. It's been five years since his last nightmare.

'I wonder what caused it all of a sudden.'

Little by little, Jack's trembling began to stop. Once he had finally calmed down, she pulled away and looked him in his eyes. He wasn't crying, but the fear was visible. It was almost like he was ten years old again.

"Jack."

Jack looked away, shame evident in his face.

"Sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to worry you."

June held her son's head to her chest, reassuring that she was not angry with him in anyway.

"Jack, I'm always worried about you. But, it's okay. I know why you were scared."

Jack pulled away and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"So, any reason the nightmares came back?"

Jack shook his head.

"None that I can think of." He lied. Of course he couldn't tell her about the Autobots, and the impending robot zombie apocalypse.

June kept her gaze on Jack, her hand gripping his.

"Jackson, what happened back then, it's over now."

Jack was able to look at his mother once again.

"I know it's hard to forget about that... _hell_ we went through, but we survived. And the people who were behind it all, they've been brought down. Nothing like that is ever gonna happen again."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because of _her_."

The mention of _her_ calmed Jack greatly. It was because of _her_ , that they both had escaped that nightmare, why Jack was still here. Even though they both loved, respected, and were eternally grateful to _her_ , they couldn't say her name out loud. During the whole ordeal, they had called for her so many times, that hearing her name brought back memories of that night. But that didn't change the fact that she was a hero to the both of them. And when they went their separate ways, she stayed in contact with them, should they ever need _her_ protection again. It was _her_ who brought _them_ down. She vowed to never let anything like that happen again, and she didn't break that vow.

"We're safe Jack, that nightmare is over."

June kissed Jack on his forehead, and the teen lied back down on his pillow.

'What would she think of this whole Decepticon thing?' he thought.

June was tempted to ask Jack why his new motorcycle was not in the garage, but she decided to let it go for the time being. She got up from his bed, and went to leave the room.

"Mom."

She looked over her shoulder, and saw Jack sit up with a serious look on his face.

"Please start carrying your gun with you."

June sighed at Jack's request. They had been here before.

"Jack, I'm a nurse. The patients aren't going to feel too comfortable with a nurse who's packing."

"Carry it in your purse then."

"Way too big to not get noticed. If my supervisor sees it, she'll warn me to leave it at home."

"I'll buy you a smaller one, one that'll fit in your purse."

June didn't want her son to spend money on her that way. The only reason she let him get that job at that grease pit of a burger joint, was so that he could learn the responsibility of employment. It was bad enough that he gave all his money to her to help with the bills, instead of saving it, or even wasting it on himself. She wasn't going to let him spend money on a gun that she didn't need.

"Jack, I don't need a second gun. My glock works just fine."

Jack still looked unwilling to let the subject drop. He paused for a moment, as he looked down at his covers.

"It's just..."

June waited for Jack to finish his sentence.

"It all happened in a hospital. That day, I thought you got eaten, that I lost you."

June's face fell as Jack brought up the very beginning of the worst day of her life. When those patients began getting up, and eating her co-workers, her first thought was to get back to her son. Until she had finally found him, her fear was like an ice pick sticking her in the chest over and over again. She could only imagine how terrified the ten year old was at the time. Her own nightmares centered around that one monster that was almost on top of Jackson in the sign-in area. In her dreams, she doesn't make it time, and watches as Jack gets devoured by that creature before her very eyes. She shut them, trying to force the horrific image from her mind.

"Jack...If it ever does happen again...I know what to do. And I know, you know what to do. But that's a very, _very_ big if."

Jack still didn't look convinced, but she could see that sleep was still calling his name. Finally, he let his worries go, and turned over to rest.

"Good night Jackson. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

June left his room, and closed the door behind her. She went into her bedroom, closing her own door, and letting the exhaustion of the day take her. She removed her tennis shoes, the only foot wear a nurse like her could be on her feet for hours in, and planted herself at the end of her bed. She lied back for a moment, letting her body relax, and her mind to try and ease itself. Talking to Jackson had brought up some bad memories, but she become a master of shutting them out. When she finally collected herself, she began to change into something more comfortable. She undid her hair, and removed her scrubs. After relieving herself of her bra, she threw on a long sleeve shirt, and a pair of sweatpants. Ever since seeing so many people being bitten on their arms and legs, she never felt comfortable leaving her limbs exposed. Jack had his own reasons for wearing long sleeve shirts all the time, which sent a shiver up her spine. Before she went to bed, she retrieved her purse from the foot of it. She reached inside and pulled out another handgun. This one was a .380 Kimber Micro Carry pistol. It was much smaller than her glock, and easier to conceal in her purse. As much as she didn't want to lie to Jack, if she had told him that she already had a second gun, it would've given him more reason to worry. After all, why was she suddenly going to worked armed if there was nothing to worry about? It was because of this, that she hadn't told him of getting the gun in the first place. And why did she buy a second pistol? Well, about a year ago, the nightmares came back to her in full force for over a month. Suddenly, she felt the need to stay armed, even at work.

She placed the weapon on her nightstand, well within her reach. Before she lied down, she picked up a framed photo of her and her son. They were sharing one of the few moments that they were not afraid together, both wearing smiles on their faces. June kissed the tip of her hand, and placed it over Jack's face.

"Sleep well, Jackson. I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

She placed the photo back on her nightstand, and finally went to bed. Because of her talk with Jack, she knew that she was in for a restless night. If she was lucky, she would only be unable to sleep, and not suffer another nightmare like Jack did.

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Jack was in his garage, working on his old bicycle. He hadn't used it since he'd met Arcee, but with her gone, he was going to need it. Jack hated that bike, but it was a small price to pay for getting away from the Autobots. Jack put the wrench he was using down, and stopped to think about the extraterrestrial beings for a moment. He wondered what they were up to, as well as Rafael and Miko. Jack couldn't deny that the Autobots had intrigued him, once he got over his initial shock. And after the first night with Arcee in his garage, he was beginning to like the idea of being around them. If Jack was being honest, he really wasn't all that scared when the three of them were aboard the Nemesis. Sure, his nerves became unsettled once they made it back to base, and everything that happened had sunk in. But he understood the danger long before it all went down. The Autobots had already lost one of their own before he had gotten mixed up in all this, and Jack knew that the danger and the consequences were very real. But that didn't turn him away. The battle with the undead that Optimus Prime and Ratchet had endured, that's what made him walk away. But the more he thought about it, he wondered if it was really the same thing as what he went through. To the Autobots, it was no doubt as terrifying as it was for him and his mother. But even as Cybertronian zombies, were they anymore of a danger to him than when they were alive? If he wasn't terrified of them when they were living, why would he fear them now? And if a horde was coming to Earth, wouldn't the Autobot base be the safest place for him? Arcee wouldn't let anything happen to him, would she?

"I wonder how she's doing right now?" He said to himself, remembering how distraught she was over her partner's death.

Jack heard approaching footsteps behind him, and tensed up for the briefest of moments. He knew it wasn't what he feared, but that didn't stop him from grabbing his wrench, prepared to smash whatever was behind him if he had to.

"Now I understand why you had to rush home."

It was Miko, and Jack was no more thrilled with her than the last time they saw each other.

"Don't you have something more exciting to do, Miko?" He said without turning to look at her.

"So, this is where you hang, huh?"

Jack didn't answer her.

"Back home in Tokyo, I have loving parents and two pure-breed cats, Tchitchi and Dingdong. I went to the best school, and took piano lessons since I was three."

"How nice for you." He said with a complete lack of interest.

"No, how boring. It wasn't me. Why do you think I jumped at the chance of transfer here.

"To Jasper, Nevada, the entertainment capital of the world?" He questioned dryly.

"Yeah, well, the brochure lied."

Jack was hoping she would make her point soon.

"Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good in fact. But then, the last couple of days happened."

"Do you have a point?"

"I saw what you did yesterday, when you saved Raf, when you came to save me."

"I was raised to be responsible, to my schoolwork, to my Mom, my job."

"Dude, hear me out. You're no fry-cook, you're a rockstar! Stop trying to pretend you're normal, Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more."

"Thanks, Miko, but I think normal suits me fine."

Miko didn't leave, and Jack was getting annoyed.

"You really are an old man, Jack. You're just gonna let this once in a lifetime chance to be something greater pass you by, all because you're scared of zombies?"

Jack tightened his hand around his wrench, feeling anger rising from his core. This little adrenaline junky had no idea what she was talking about.

"Miko...get the hell out of my garage."

Miko took a step back because of Jack's sudden shift in demeanor. He sounded really angry.

"Whatever."

Miko left the garage, and Jack waited until he heard Bulkhead's door open and shut. Before he could even pull off, Jack quickly shut his garage door. He leaned up against it, while furiously rubbing his forearm. He slowly lifted his right sleeve, and stared at the scar hidden beneath it. In the middle of his forearm, fist side up, a part of his flesh was missing. In it's place was a grotesque indentation, looking as if something had bitten a chunk of his arm out. His put his hand over the scar, trying not to think about the thing that gave it to him. He was lucky to still be alive, to still be himself, and not one of them. He wasn't going back, to throw away what _she_ did for him. And as for Arcee, she didn't seem to like him much anyway. She was nicer to him the day after he'd met Optimus, but he knew that he was just a chore to her, a burden. When Megatron's army comes to Earth, she was gonna have to give it her all to stop it, and he wasn't going to be a distraction to her. Jack proceeded to work on his bike. But try as he might, he couldn't stop thinking about Arcee.

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The base was livelier than it normally was with the two humans now regularly visiting. Though it wasn't as lively as it could be with Miko there, Bulkhead noticed. Rafael had brought a pair of remote control cars, and was showing the intrigued Bumblebee how to maneuver them. Arcee was leaning against the wall, looking a million miles away. Optimus was not present, still taking care of reports for Agent Fowler. Ratchet was working on something at his station, looking none too happy about the present company. Miko wasn't really doing anything other than sitting on a metal crate, looking as deep in thought as Arcee. Even in the short time that they had come to know each other, Bulkhead realized that this was out of character for her.

"Hey Miko, you got your guitar right? Let's get a jam session goin'."

Ratchet didn't look too pleased.

"Must you, Bulkhead?"

"Come on, Doc. A little Rock n' Roll never hurt anybody."

"My audio receptors beg to differ."

The Wrecker payed the medic no mind.

"Come on, Miko. How's that song go? 'You've got the touch! You've got the power!'"

"Primus, save me." Ratchet grumbled.

"Sorry Bulk, I'm not in the mood to rock out right now."

Bulkhead ceased his singing, unsure if he heard his charge correctly.

"What? Not in the mood? But you're a rockstar, Miko. Rockstar's are always ready to party."

Miko pulled her legs to her chest, and rested her chin on her knees.

"What's the matter, Miko? Where's all that energy that could power the Ark back to Cybertron?"

"It got sucked out by 'Mr. Responsible'" She said bitterly.

Bulkhead sat next to her, understanding who she was referring to.

"What did you and Jack talk about anyway?"

Arcee looked up when Bulkhead mentioned him.

'She talked to Jack?'

"I tried to talk some sense into him, and get him to come back to the base."

Arcee was listening closely now, though she was trying to act uninterested.

"How'd that go?"

"Well, do you see him around anywhere, Bulk?"

"Right, sorry."

Miko sighed before continuing.

"He gave me some boring scrap about being responsible, and just wanting to be normal blah blah blah. Then he got really serious, and told me to get the hell out of his garage."

'Jack said that?' Arcee thought. She knew enough about this planet to know that "hell" was the Earth equivalent of Unicron's Pit, and considered a curse word among humans. Jack didn't seem like the type to curse...unless he was very mad about something.

"Well, if he doesn't wanna hang with us, then frag him right in his tailpipe, hehehe."

"Bulkhead! Language!" Ratchet scolded. He may not have liked the children much, but he recognized that they _were_ children.

"What does 'frag' mean?" Rafael innocently asked, causing Bumblebee to frantically try and change the subject. Ratchet shot Bulkhead an angry look.

"Uh..heheh...sorry Doc."

"It's fine Bulk, I'm just worried is all. He was alright until I brought up zombies. Then he got all mad, and told me off. And when I left, he shut his garage door like it was letting the plague in. I was just joking when I said that he was scared of zombies, but I think he might actually be really scared of them."

"Well, it's probably like you said. Jack saw a movie with zombie humans in it, and now they scare him."

"But that's so abnormal, Bulk. I mean, to humans, what's a zombie'con gonna do that a regular 'con can't do. As much as I hate spiders, Decepticon spiders aren't gonna make me stay away from you guys."

Bulkhead and Ratchet winced again, feeling the glare that Arcee was sending Miko from across the area.

"Miko, ixnay of the ider-con spay."

"Wait, where did you learn Pig Latin?"

"Uh..well.. I kinda...like to...watch cartoons with Bee...sometimes."

 **"He really likes Gravity Falls."** Bumblebee chirped, getting an angry look from Bulkhead.

"Shut it, Bee!"

 **"Soos is his favorite character."**

"Say one more word, and I swear I'll show Raf your 'gemsona' pictures!"

The scout's optics went wide, and he turned away in embarrassment. He didn't notice Rafael smirking at him.

"Garnet's my favorite character." He said to his guardian, earning a surprised look from him.

"The Autobot army, ladies and gentleman." Ratchet said to himself.

"Look, Miko...Jack is...well he ain't brave like you. Not everyone can be as fearless in the face of the 'Cons the way you are."

"But he is brave, I saw it myself. He followed me through the groundbridge, and he saved Raf. He was the one who thought to take a picture of the 'Con formula. Jack was awesome aboard the Nemesis, even after you came to rescue us"

'She's right about that.' Arcee thought with a smile. Jack did have nerves of steel when being faced down by the Decepticons.

"So why did he get scared when Optimus and Ratchet came back? Why is he so scared of zombies? When I left, I could see something was bothering him. I think...I think something might be wrong with him, something he's not telling us."

Bulkhead couldn't think of anything else to say. He really didn't see why Miko was so worried about Jack. As far as he was concerned, the kid just didn't have the ball bearings to stick around. Arcee, on the other hand, understood everything Miko was saying.

"I'm goin' for a ride. Hit me on the comm-link if you need me."

Arcee took her alt form, and drove out of the base. She decided to to try her hand at convincing Jack to come back to base. She hoped she would have better luck than Miko.

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Normally, Jack would hate being called into work on his day off. But after his conversation with Miko, he needed something to get his mind off everything. A slow dragging day of dealing with Jasper's wonderful people was always a good way to remember that life can still suck, even without zombies. Unfortunately, the day went by faster than he wished it did, and he was left with his own thoughts as he prepared to head home. At least the day had made it easier to not think about the past. Now as long as no one else would bother him about going back to the base then...

"Nice Bike."

Jack turned around in complete surprise. She was the last person he thought would try to talk to him. But to his amazement, there Arcee was, looking as awesome as she did the day he met her.

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 **The reason I got this chapter up a day after the first was because I had already started it when I uploaded the previous. Thank you The Space Wizard Storybook, but I had already covered Miko going back when I read your suggestion. It's appreciated nonetheless. Not much going on in this chapter, just some insight on June's state of mind, and everyone worrying about Jack, which I'm gonna try not to make a habit of. Of course, we see Jack didn't get out of the whole ordeal unscathed. Ya'know, as I read more TFP fanfiction that center around Jack, I've notice that alot of people love to put the kid through hell. There are alot of stories where he's either tortured, or goes through absurd amounts of pain. Wonder why that is.**

 **Also, I'm gonna warn you ahead of time. Next chapter, I'm going to reveal something that might change how you read the story. I know some of you really like where I went with the first chapter, so if what happens next disappoints you, I apologize. Just keep an open mind, and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.**

 **And now, a brief fact about history: When Thomas Edison worked late into the night on the electric light, he had to do it by gas lamp or candle. I'm sure it made the work seem that much more urgent.**


	3. Chapter 3

After Miko came by to talk to him, Jack had figured that it wouldn't end there. He expected that Rafael would try to convince him to go back to the base. But he did not expect Arcee to show up. In fact, he didn't expect to see Arcee again after he left. Even though he wasn't looking forward to the conversation that was bound to happen, he couldn't deny that he was happy to see her.

"Arcee really, Miko already tried. Tell Optimus I respect him big time, but if you're at war with the Decepticons, there's nothing I can do to help."

By now, it really wasn't about the zombie-cons anymore. Jack knew when he was being a burden, and he didn't want to be. It was hard to guess what Arcee was thinking while she was in her alt form, but he assumed that Optimus was the one who had sent her to talk to him. Something registered in his head. If Optimus sent her, then that meant something had happened, or was about to happen. This made Jack nervous.

"Optimus didn't send me, and no one's asking for your help."

He sighed in relief. That meant that the zombie-cons weren't here yet, or have already been dealt with. Jack really hoped that it was the latter.

"OK, so, if we both agree that I'm not warrior material, then why are you here?"

"Jack, I just lost someone I cared about. Maybe it's the grief talking, maybe you're growing on me. Whatever it is, I'm just not ready to say good-bye."

Even without her face exposed, Jack could tell that Arcee was telling the truth. Had he really come to mean that much to her in the two days they spent together? A part of him did want to go with her, but another part didn't.

"Look, I know this whole undead business has got you on edge, but Optimus made me your guardian for a reason. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, Jack."

Just then, Jack had a flashback to the incident six years ago.

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 _She was standing over him, gun in one hand, the other on his shoulder. His mother was lying unconscious on the bed next to them. Jack should've been scared right now, but he wasn't, because she was there._

 _"Look at me kid, I'll protect you and your mother."_

 _She lifted his head by the chin with her finger._

 _"I won't let anything happen to either of you. I'll get you both out of here, I promise."_

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"Jack? J _aaaa_ ck."

Jack snapped back to the present, and saw that the blue and pink motorcycle was still waiting for him.

"Spaced out on me there, kid."

Did Arcee remind Jack of _her_? He could see similarities, despite the obvious difference in species. If they were anything alike, then she would protect Jack with her life.

"Arcee?"

"Jack?"

"If things go bad, and Megatron brings his army to Earth, I have to know that my mother will be safe."

Arcee didn't say anything right away, but she was impressed by how mature Jack was.

"She falls under my protection too, kid. If it comes to that, I'll be the first one out there to get her to safety, I promise."

Jack smiled, they were more alike then he realized. He wasn't Arcee's burden, that's what he kept telling himself. But it was evident now that he was still on her mind, even when he wasn't around. He wondered what he did that left such an impression on her, but in the end, he was glad she came back for him. The femme had left more than an impression on him, of that he was certain. And if Megatron was gearing up for war, he knew he could rely on her. It wasn't for his own protection, but for his mother. At least he knew someone who could keep her safe in Jasper.

Jack walked over and mounted the two-wheeler, remembering the thrill of their first ride together. Arcee backed out of her space, and took off.

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The ride back to base was mostly quiet. True, Jack didn't come off as much of a talker. Arcee adjusted her mirror to get a better look at his face. He seemed to still have alot on his mind. Finally, she decided to break the silence.

" _So_...about yesterday."

Jack looked down at the speedometer.

"Huh?"

"When you left the base...remember?"

"Oh, yeah...about yesterday..."

"You were pretty freaked out when you went home. You wanna talk about it?"

"Not...not really, Arcee."

"Message received. Dropping the subject."

Arcee and Jack were silent again, though she kept her mirrors on him.

"But when you do wanna talk...you know you can come to me right?"

Jack looked down again, this time in surprise. Was Arcee offering to listen to Jack's problem? She didn't seem like the type who would want to listen to some teenager vent his issues, even if his own were nothing like the problems other teens went through. The day he brought her home, she pretty much shot down the idea that he was dealing with anything more than just "girl trouble". That really struck a chord with him, he remembered.

"When did you become so concerned about me?"

"I told you yesterday Jack, we were starting over. I'm still your guardian, that means I actually have to pretend to care about your personal life."

"How considerate of you."

"Well Jack, I'm a giver."

Jack laughed, which made Arcee feel good. At least his time away didn't make their relationship any worse.

"Seriously though, You really showed what you were made of aboard the Nemesis. All of us noticed it, even Optimus."

Jack perked up about that, learning that he had impressed the Autobot leader somehow.

"Not alot of humans your age would chase after their friends in a dangerous situation like that, or save one of them for that matter. You didn't even seem all that scared when we found you either. That takes metal kid...er I mean guts. Did I say that right?"

"Yeah...Look, it really wasn't anything. I _was_ scared, really scared. I just hid it really well."

"That just makes it all the more impressive, Jack...So you understand why you getting freaked out over the whole undead army thing kinda worries me."

Jack looked away, which didn't escape the femme. Had he really been that transparent yesterday, that they all knew why he left?

"Arcee, I really don't..."

"Look Jack, I'm not gonna force you to talk about it. I just want you to know that you can, when you're ready. If you don't wanna talk to me, you can always talk to Prime. I can promise that he won't judge you, and neither will I."

Arcee hoped she was getting through to him, and she could see that he was absorbing what she was saying. Jack, on the other hand, was happy to know that he had someone willing to listen to him. The only one he could ever talk to was his mother, and she was struggling with the same problems as he. But still, even to transforming alien robots, he couldn't reveal his past. He trusted them, he really did. But then, they might try to take matters into their own hands and make sure that the ones who were responsible were truly brought to justice. In an effort to do that, they would end up going to Agent Fowler for information, and that would put him and his mother in danger. Still, he was grateful to Arcee. He had someone to talk to, if he was willing to risk it.

"I'll keep that in mind...Thanks, Arcee."

"Anytime...partner."

The two of them rode in comfortable silence, until they pulled up to the base. When they drove to the main hall, everyone was surprised to see that Arcee was not alone, even Ratchet. Jack felt all eyes and optics on him, which made him feel nervous. He heard the thunderous footsteps of the Prime approaching.

"Jackson." He said with pleasant surprise.

"Optimus."

"I am glad to see that you have decided to return."

"Yeah...sorry about last time." He said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You need not apologize. We are simply glad to have you back."

"Thank you, Optimus."

Jack walked up the platform area, which has since been converted into a hangout spot for Raf and Miko. Raf ran up to Jack, and hugged is waist excitedly. Jack happily returned it. It was good to see the tween again, to see that he was okay. Miko walked up to him as well, wearing a smug look on her face.

"Glad to see you grew a pair."

Jack tried to smile, but things were still awkward from before.

"Um...I'm sorry about earlier, you know, telling you off like that." Jack said nervously, again rubbing the back of his head.

"Maybe...I was being a bit pushy." Miko replied, while rubbing her arm.

"I promise I won't bring up the zombie thing again."

They really saw right through him yesterday, didn't they? Still, it felt good to be back. And for the first time in a long time, Jack wasn't afraid.

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"Optimus, I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge."

Jack looked up from his game with Rafael at the medics report. Optimus walked over to the console where Ratchet further explained the situation. Apparently, the space bridge was located in...well space. More specifically, it was located in Earth's orbit. This was it, if the Autobots took out the bridge now, then Megatron would have no army to bring to Earth. Jack felt his chest become tight. Whatever happens today would determine the fate of Earth. The Autobots gathered around the groundbridge, preparing to meet Megatron head on.

"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you." Ratchet spoke to his leader.

"Until we meet again, old friend." He replied.

The exchange brought up more memories for Jackson.

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 _She was loading up her weapons, preparing for whatever was waiting for her in the room below._

 _"If I don't come back in twenty minutes...just run."_

 _She handed June the shotgun._

 _"You and Jack head to the rendezvous point, and get the hell out of this city. Do you understand?"_

 _June said nothing, she only stared at the weapon she was given._

 _"June!"_

 _"You have to come back. We'll never make it without you."_

 _She looked at June, with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Jack could see that she didn't want to leave them. She put her hand on his mother's shoulder, trying to give her some of her own strength._

 _"You have your son to think about. If you've shown me anything throughout all of this, is that you'll move mountains to protect him. So you're gonna make it, or I'll haunt your ass if you don't."_

 _June laughed a bit._

 _"If we don't make it, we'll be dead like you. You can't haunt another ghost."_

 _"Then I'll just kick your ass over and over again for eternity."_

 _Both of them shared a laugh, but Jack didn't find anything funny. He noticed that his mother's eyes were beginning to water._

 _"It'll be okay June, just do what you have to do."_

 _She put held the sides of June's face with both hands._

 _"Survive this...please."_

 _June, who was in tears by this point, nodded. She hugged June, and held it for a good ten seconds. When they pulled away, she looked at Jackson, who was looking away defiantly._

 _"Hey kiddo, you were really brave through all this. You and your Mom are gonna be okay. When this is over, you have to promise me you'll protect her, no matter what."_

 _Jack didn't promise anything. Instead, he latched onto her with a iron like grip._

 _"Don't go."_

 _Jack could feel her breathing against him, it wasn't calm. She was scared, and if she was scared, then that meant that the monster down below was really bad. Jack was afraid he would never see her again._

 _"I have to, little one. If I don't, that monster isn't going to leave us alone."_

 _"But...he'll kill you."_

 _She pushed Jack away, and looked at him with her sad eyes. She was moments from crying herself, and that made Jack cry even more._

 _"Listen...I still have work to do when this is over. I have to stop the bad people who did this to your home. If I die down there, then I won't be able to protect you. I said I wasn't gonna let anything happen to you, and I meant it. So just wait here with your Mother. I'll be back...I promise."_

 _She smiled at the boy, who hesitantly smiled back._

 _"C'mere."_

 _She took Jackson into her arms, and held him closely._

 _"It'll be okay, little one."_

 _She pulled away, and smiled again at the scared little boy. She kissed her hand, and lightly tapped it on Jack's forehead. The boy calmed down, and looked at her as confident as he could._

 _"There's my little tough guy. How'd you get to be so brave, little one?"_

 _She stood up, and looked at June. June gave a subtle nod, which she returned. She turned away, and went down the metal stairway. Jack clung to his mother's leg, as he watched her form descend into the darkness. June held him close, and they waited._

 _'She'll be okay.' Jack began to say in his head._

 _'She'll be okay, she'll be okay, she'll be okay.'_

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"she'll be okay, she'll be okay, she'll be okay"

"Jack?"

Jack was once again pulled back from the past, realizing that he was muttering to himself and staring at the floor. Arcee was by the groundbridge with a worried look on her face.

"You okay?"

They were so much alike, Jack realized. And he was feeling the same way he did when she went to fight that "thing".

"Please come back, Arcee."

Arcee was caught off guard by Jack's plea. He was really worried about her, it seemed. It was a warmth to her spark to know that he had come to care for her that much, despite their rocky first impressions.

"Relax, partner. Been doin' this a long time."

"Still, be safe."

Arcee nodded with a smile, and the groundbridge opened in front of them. As she walked through, she cast another glance at her charge. He was still gazing at her, with eyes so full of fear and uncertainty. She knew that look well. But why did he seem so familiar with it? It was as if he had been here before. The groundbridge closed, and the Autobots were gone. Jack remained where he was, his hand gripping the rail.

"She'll be okay." He said to himself, praying that it wasn't the last time he saw her.

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Alot happened between when the Autobots embarked on their mission, and now. In an effort to stall Megatron's plans, Jack, Raf, and Miko bridged to the VLA in Texas to try and stop the Decepticons from locking on to Cybertron's coordinates. It was here that Rafael showed what he could do. Despite being only twelve years old, the young boy was able to lock the 'Cons out. Jack could've kissed the boy, he was so happy. Thanks to him, no "Terrorcons" were coming to Earth anytime soon. But all that went to hell when the Decepticon, Soundwave, pretty much shot their plans dead. With the coordinates locked onto Cybertron, it was up to the Autobots to stop Megatron from raising his army.

"Ratchet, we must destroy the Space Bridge." Optimus spoke through the comm link.

Yes, that was the plan. If the Autobots destroyed the space bridge, then Megatron would have no way of getting his army through.

"Optimus, I must say the Space Bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron."

Immediately, guilt had replaced Jack's hope. He was so worried about the Terracons coming to Earth, he hadn't thought about how it was affecting the Autobots. Those were their fallen allies, as well as their enemies, rising from the grave. Arcee was completely beside herself after she witnessed the remains of what was probably her closest friend try to take her life. And now, the only way to stop an army from taking over Earth was to destroy their only chance of ever going home. The Autobots were about to sacrifice it all for the sake of humanity.

"Are you certain it's destruction is the only option?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then by all means let us light our darkest hour."

Humanity was never going to know what the Autobots had done for them, Jack came to realize.

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"Four life signals, one vary faint"

Nervousness had crept up on Jack. One of the Autobots was injured, badly. When they bridged back to base, Jack's heart sank like a stone when he saw who it was.

"We lost one this week. By the Allspark, don't let it be two."

Jack ran up to Arcee's still form being held by Bumblebee.

"Arcee."

All the 'Bots noticed how scared he was. He reached out to touch her face, but pulled away when he heard her groan in discomfort.

"Jack, really? There are other motorcycles in the world."

Relief washed over Jack like a baptism. The familiar feeling of someone he cared about pulling through warmed him to his center.

"But you're my first."

She smiled at him, happy that she made it back, happy that he'd come back. The kid was really worming his way into her spark.

"And Megatron?" Asked Ratchet

"Not even he could have survived ground-zero." Replied Optimus.

"So is this the part where you say good-bye and and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?" Miko asked, sadness evident in her face.

"No Miko, it is not. Even with Megatron's demise, the Decepticons still remain a threat to Earth. No doubt, Starscream will ascend to leadership, and will be much more reckless than our old nemesis. And...I cannot bring myself to severe the bonds my allies have formed with you three. So long as we take refuge here on Earth, you are all welcomed in our base, as we have been welcomed on your planet."

The three children smiled, knowing that they would still have the Autobots in their lives.

"Looks like I'm stuck with you, Partner." Arcee joked from the medical berth.

"I'll try not to be too much of a pain."

They exchanged smiles, before Jack began walking to the stairway. Arcee watched him as he disappeared from her view. This was the most calm he had been since she met him, but she wondered if and when he would tell her the real reason he was scared by all of this.

It was too obvious now. No matter how he looked at it, they were one in the same. Guns experts, fancy fighting moves. If Arcee was human, she might've even kept her hair short like she did. That's why Jack felt so comfortable around her, she reminded him of...

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 _The door to the church that they were taking refuge in flew open, and the June ran out holding Jack by the arm. This one was not like the others. While they were slow and mindless, this one was feral and running after them. They both ran to the row of parked vehicles obstructing their path, a futile attempt at a blockade against the zombie horde. June put Jack on the hood of the car, and jumped on top with him. The pathway was littered with the corpses of police officers, S.W.A.T., and National Guards, all of which were potential dead waiting for prey. The two hopped along the car hoods as fast as they could, while the beast behind stumbled over the corpses while trying to make it's way around the dead. Once they made it to the other side, June looked back, and saw that the creature was halfway through the blockade. She used this opportunity to try and take it down before it got close. With the pistol she took from a policeman's corpse, she fired four shots at the beast. Not being a marksman, only one found it's way to the monster's chest, and did nothing to slow it down. It made it's way through the blockade, and the mother and son ran for a nearby bus. Jumping inside, June shut the door behind her, and watched as the feral zombie thrashed against the glass. She surveyed the inside of the vehicle, and saw that it was empty. She tried to think of what to do next, when she saw that the zombie was forcing the door open._

 _"Go, Jack, Go!"_

 _The two ran to the other side of the bus, just as it made it's way in. June forced the emergency exit open, and had Jack jump out first. She followed behind, and turned to fire back at the beast. This time, all of her shots hit the intended target, managing three to it's head. But even the head shots had only managed to stop it momentarily, before it charged at her again. June slammed the door shut, stopping the zombie from getting to her. Seemingly possessing some ingenuity, it ran back to the front of the bus and out of the door._

 _"Come on, Jack!"_

 _June grabbed Jack, and the two ran into a nearby alley. They made their way to the fence at the end, where they saw a metal door. June prayed that it was unlocked. When she grabbed the door knob, it flew open with great force, and smacked her right in her face. The blow was enough to knock her back into the fence, unconscious. Two men ran out, and saw Jack standing over June._

 _"Help us, please!"_

 _"Sorry kid, you're on your own!"_

 _They ran in the other direction, and right into the feral zombie at the end of the alleyway. It tore it's claws right through one of them, and ripped his throat out with it's jagged teeth. The other one fired upon it with his revolver, but it didn't have any effect. The monster ran for him at full force._

 _"NoNoNoNO!"_

 _It tackled him to the ground, and Jack shut his eyes as he was torn apart. He covered his ears to drown out the screams coming from him. When he looked again, the beast was finished, and heading towards Jackson and his mother. He grabbed the gun, and slowly aimed it at the monster, who was moving slowly. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, and he could barely hold the weapon with both hands. Jack pulled the trigger, but only heard the click of hammer. His eyes went wide, and the monster charged at him. This was it, he was going to die, his mother was going to die, and his father would be left all alone. This couldn't be happening. Monsters aren't real. This was just a nightmare...But the monster just kept coming. Jack pleaded for someone to save him, to save his mother. He didn't want to get eaten, he didn't want to die._

 _Just then, a loud gunshot came from the doorway, and threw the beast into the wall next to him. A woman stormed out, and smashed the end of her shotgun into it's face, causing to the stumble backwards. When it went for her again, she delivered a roundhouse kick to it's stomach. It gave her just enough distance to shoot it again in the torso, and send it to the ground. Before it could get back up, she was already standing over it. She put the barrel over it's face, and blasted it's head right off it's body. She ejected a shell from her weapon, and went to one of the men it killed to salvage his ammo. Jack was still trembling while he watched her, and let out the faintest of whimpers. She spun around with her weapon ready, but lowered it when she saw who made the noise. Jack saw the shocked look on her face, and mistook it for anger. As she walked closer, he stood in front of his mother defensively, though he was still shaking in fear. Once she was right in front of the boy, she smiled at how this child was trying to protect his mother. She kneeled down with a warm look on her face._

 _"How did you get be so brave, little one?"_

 _Jack stared at her, unsure if he should trust her._

 _"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you."_

 _She looked over to his unconscious mother._

 _"Is that your Mother?"_

 _Jack nodded._

 _"Has she been bitten?"_

 _He shook his head._

 _"Are you sure?"_

 _He nodded again nervously, knowing what happens when you get bit._

 _"Okay, okay. I believe you. But she's been hurt, so we need to get her somewhere safe. May I?"_

 _Realizing what she wanted, Jack moved away to let the woman lift June up. She slung her arm over her shoulder, and looked down at the boy at her feet._

 _"It's okay, your Mom's gonna be fine. Just a bump on the head."_

 _The woman walked back into the building, and noticed that Jack was unwilling to follow her._

 _"It's alright, there are no monsters in here. I took care of them already."_

 _Jack hesitantly followed behind her, and shut the door. They walked together into a small room with small bed, a trunk in the corner, and a typewriter on a desk._

 _"So what's your name, little one?"_

 _Jack looked at the woman sheepishly._

 _"J-Jack."_

 _"That's a strong name for such a cute little boy. And your Mom?"_

 _"June."_

 _"Hm, both your names start with the letter J. Mine does too. Know what it is?"_

 _Jack shook his head._

 _"It's Jill, Jill Valentine."_

 _She held her hand out the shy boy, which he took nervously._

 _"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jack."_

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 **The typewriter was a dead giveaway wasn't it?**

 **So yeah, this is a Resident Evil crossover. If this turns you off to the story, I understand and apologize. I'm more than aware of how much the franchise has become of mockery of itself and the horror genre, given the number of sharks it's leapt over. And I know, I should have this listed as a crossover, but I wanted it to sort of be a twist for the one or two readers who didn't see this coming from a mile away. Again, if this disappoints you, I apologize. Know that I am gonna try to stay true to it's horror roots, and not go full action shooter like the games did. You might see Wesker pop up in the near future, but I promise you won't see gun toting Majini or whatever the hell those things were in RE6's Chris campaign.**

 **Fun Fact of the Day: The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."**


	4. Chapter 4

A few months had passed since Jack had returned to the Autobots, and Earth narrowly avoided an extraterrestrial zombie apocalypse. Since then, many things have happened between the Autobots and Decepticons. As Optimus Prime had predicted, Starscream assumed the mantle as Decepticon leader. But he has since proven himself to be unsuited for the role, as many of his plans had failed due to both the Autobot's interventions, and his own inept leadership. The Decepticons were not the only threat to the Autobots, however. A group known as M.E.C.H., led by a man named Silas, had revealed themselves when the 'Bots had assisted Fowler in a mission to transport a nuclear device known as the Dingus. This shadowy organization sought to create a new world order, by obtaining superior technology to destroy the old world's leadership. During the mission, the Autobots were forced to reveal their existence to M.E.C.H., which had no doubt peaked their interest in alien technology. Also, Megatron turned out to not be as dead as Optimus had believed. During a mission to steal a cure for the Cybonic plague, which Optimus had become infected with, Bumblebee and Arcee discovered him in comatose. Though they were able to retrieve the formula for a cure, they were unable to finish off the 'Con leader before being forced to retreat. Following an incident with Bumblebee, Megatron was revived to full capacity, and reassumed his position as Decepticon leader. Also, Jack and Arcee had too close a call in the woods, but that was a story to be told later.

During this time, Jack had changed for the better. He has since come out of his shell, and was making great progress at moving past his traumatic experiences. Being around the Autobots had worked wonders for him. Even after an incident, in which he, Miko, and Raf were stuck in a "shadowzone" with a Terrorcon named Skyquake, Jack had managed to keep his cool much better than he would have only a short time ago. However, despite his progress, he was far from recovered. The nightmares had stopped, but he would still find himself suffering panic attacks every so often. He didn't know what triggered them, but when they did, he would disappear somewhere in the base. He hid and waited until the anxiety would stop, and reunite with the others as if nothing had happened. They had not yet caught on to these incidents. One of the main reasons that he was still suffering from trauma, was that he still had not revealed his past to anyone, not even Arcee.

Arcee, the two of them had become very close since the space bridge incident. She was opening up more and more as the days went by, though she remained tight lipped about her own past. All that changed, however, after the incident with Airachnid. Jack had learned of the rogue Decepticon that had personally victimized Arcee back on Cybertron. The Spider Decepticon had captured her during the war, and interrogated her with torture for several days. It was here that he learned of her first partner, Tailgate, who Airachnid had killed right in front of her. The incident had left Arcee with trauma of her own. When the two met up again, Arcee sought her revenge, until Airachnid set her sights on Jack. Being a hunter of indigenous species, she wanted to add Jackson's head to her collection. Him being Arcee's new partner only made it that much more engaging for her. Jack demonstrated his ingenuity once again, by blowing up her ship with her still inside it. It wasn't enough to destroy her, but Arcee had come to recue him just in the nick of time. Though the incident had brought up memories of Jack running from some very nightmarish creatures intent on disemboweling him and his mother, it had also helped break down the final wall that Arcee had put up. Earlier, she had tried to deny that Jack was truly her partner in a desperate attempt to get him to run away instead of trying to help her. After seeing what he was really capable of, she could no longer deny the he was indeed her partner...well junior partner. She needed to be able to pull rank on him. The whole ordeal had strengthened their friendship even more, which was why Jack was thinking about telling her the truth.

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Another day had come and gone at the Autobot base. Jack and Arcee were now on their way home to make the teen's curfew. The ride was super quiet, mostly because Jack was lost in thought.

He had plenty of good reasons to tell Arcee about the Raccoon City incident. For one thing, she had already told him about what she'd been through. After surviving Airachnid, Arcee spoke with Jack in his garage that very night. She had explained to him who Tailgate was, and what Airachnid had done to the both of them. She went into detail about the pain she felt, as well as the anger, regret, and loneliness. She vented it all to Jack, and explained why she acted the way she did in the forest. During that incident, she had confessed that she was afraid of losing Jack. In the garage, she went into great detail about what he had come to mean to her. Jack was touched by how Arcee cared for him so deeply. She admitted that he was like the little brother she never had. He could admit that she was quickly becoming like a sister to him. By the time she was finished, it seemed like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Jack understood that it took a great deal of trust to reveal her past to him like that, and felt that she deserved the same from him. Another reason was that with their shared experiences, they could help each other. Now, what they had been through may have been very different from each other, but that didn't mean they couldn't be there for each other. Jack saw that Arcee still had some demons from the incident. If his panic attacks were of any indication, he had a long way to go before he came out the other side of his trauma. Why couldn't they seek comfort in each other?

But there was one very good reason not to tell her, Umbrella. Jack had learned about them from Jill. The Umbrella Corporation was a huge conglomerate that had their hands wrapped around almost every market. Their two biggest endeavors were pharmaceuticals and weapons. To the public, they were just some big corporation that made alot of money. But they were the ones that made the virus that turned people into zombies. Jill had called it the T-Virus. After some incident involving one of their labs hidden beneath a mansion in the Arklay Mountains, the virus had gotten out and began to spread throughout the city. Jill, who had survived the mansion incident with a few remaining members of her unit, tried to warn everyone of what was coming. They did not take her warning seriously until it was too late. In order to neutralize the outbreak, the government had ordered a missile strike to decimate the city. The media reported that the cause of the city's destruction was the result of a nuclear meltdown. Jill, June, and Jack had barely managed to escaped via helicopter just before the missile hit. Afterwords, Jill had warned the two not to tell anyone about what happened in Raccoon City. Umbrella was still at large, and she had a hunch that the U.S. Government was involved as well, and would do anything to keep what happened from being revealed to the public. If anyone happened to learn of their previous residence, they were to claim that were on vacation at the time of the "meltdown". Even after Umbrella was exposed and went bankrupt, and almost all it's employees were tried and convicted of illegal experiments, Jill warned them not to speak to anyone about it. There was still the possibility of government involvement, and she believed that at least a few of Umbrella's employees escaped justice. Even though she believed that they now lacked the funds and manpower to continue their illegal research, she didn't want to put the two at risk. Jack was especially at risk, having survived a bite from a zombie thanks to Jill. If anyone at Umbrella learned of this, they would most certainly kidnap Jack and do God knows what to him. Jack shuddered at the thought of being experimented on.

They were almost halfway home when Arcee noticed how quiet Jack was being. She turned her mirrors to him, and saw that he was deep in thought about something.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Arcee?"

"What are you thinkin' about?"

"Oh...nothing Arcee...just...life I guess."

"How introspective of you."

"I'm actually thinking about everything that's happened, ya'know...since I met you guys."

Silence had returned for a moment, this time with Arcee deep in thought.

"Thank you, Jack."

"Huh...what for?"

"For listening the other night. I really needed that. And also...for coming back for me...in the forest."

"Oh...well, you're welcome I guess. I'm always happy to listen when you need me to, but the forest thing...I kinda messed up then."

"What are talking about?"

"Well, when I went back, you were just about to finish Airachnid off. But then I distracted you, and she came after me. Then she escaped, and now she's stuck here on Earth. That's my fault."

"That's one way to look at it...but if I hadn't come so close to losing you, I wouldn't have been able to talk to you about what she did to me. You know you're the first person I've ever talked to about that?"

Jack looked down in shock at Arcee's instrument panel. If he could stop the ride suddenly, he would've. That couldn't be right. Surely Arcee had talked about the death of her partner to Optimus at least.

"Really?"

"Yeah...I never talked to anyone about it. I mean, they all knew what happened. But as far as confiding in someone, I never did. Not to my sisters, not to Optimus, not even to Cliffjumper. That was the first time I ever really talked about what happened, and how I felt."

This was a shock to Jack's system. Had Arcee really trusted him that much? Apparently she had sisters that she didn't confide in as she did to him. Yeah...Arcee really trusted him. That made Jack feel both happy and guilty.

"Well...I'm here for you 'Cee."

"I know you are, and I'm glad...junior partner."

As they were getting closer to Jack's house, he decided that he would tell her the truth. If she trusted him, then he could definitely trust her. As they pulled up to the house, he was surprised to see his mother's car in the driveway. He was well within his curfew, so he wasn't worried. When they pulled in, Jack saw his mother waiting for him against the wall.

"Mom?"

"Hey, Jack?"

"Hey...you're home early."

"Decided to take some 'me' time."

"Oh."

Jack looked closer, and could see the wetness in her eyes. That could only mean one thing, she had a nightmare.

"Mom...are you okay?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, she took his right arm, and pulled up his sleeve. Arcee manage to get a good look at it, the scar. If she wasn't in her alt form, shock would've been plain to see on her face. June ran her hand over her son's disfigured arm, as he looked on with worry. Her shoulders began throbbing, and she took Jack in her arms as she began to sob slightly.

"Jack...I...I almost lost you that day." She whimpered out.

Jack put a comforting arm around her back. She almost never let the nightmares get to her. The few times it did, it was like a floodgate.

"It's okay Mom...I'm still here. You haven't lost me."

"Jack...My Jack...My only boy...you're all I have...If I ever lost you...I couldn't..."

"Shhhhhh...it's alright Mom...You're not gonna lose me."

Jack was surprised at how the roles had reversed for he and his mother. But before he could ponder that any further, he remembered who else was in the garage with them. Now was not the time to reveal family secrets.

"Come on Mom, it's cold out here. Let's go inside."

Jack led his mother inside the house. Arcee had kept her mirror on them the whole time, until the door shut. She was worried about them both, and alot of questions were being raised.

"Jack, what are you not telling me?"

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Jack sat on the couch with his arms around June. She was still crying into his neck. Whatever happened in her dream, it was bad.

"I never make it in time .'hic' The one in the hospital...'hic' he always..." June choked out.

"I remember him...he was just a kid...probably my age."

"'Hic' I...I'm running as fast as I can. 'hic' I have the mop handle in my hand. 'hic' But...I'm never fast enough...He's 'hic' he's right over you...and...he tears you apart..'hic''hic'...right in front of me."

It was not easy to see his mother like this. She was always the strong one, or at least acted strong for him. But everyone breaks down eventually.

"Mom..."

"I can hear you screaming for me Jack 'hic'...'Mommy help'...but I can't...'hic''hic' I can't move." Her voice was so weak.

"Mom, Mom...you made in time. You saved me in that hospital."

"But if I had come 'hic''hic' a second later...it would've..."

"But you didn't."

"That monster...that 'crimson head'...he almost killed us both."

"But Jill saved us."

June calmed down a little when Jack mentioned Jill. She even smirked a bit when she said their names like that in her head. She always thought about "Jack and Jill" whenever she saw the two together. But then she remembered Jack's scar, where he was bitten. She remembered how her world almost ended when it happened.

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 _Jill, June, and Jack were wandering through Raccoon Park. They were still trying to make their way through the city, in the hopes of finding a means of escape. Jill was moving with her M4 ahead the the group, with her Mossberg strapped to her back. She gave June her custom Beretta 92F, as well as her Penn Arms L1 grenade launcher. Though June was merely carrying the launcher for Jill, who was much more accustomed to handling it. Jack was carrying a bag that had the bulk of their ammo. It was a bit heavy for him, but he had managed to hold on to it well enough without falling behind so far. Jill had told them that if they needed to run, and it was too heavy, to just drop it and stay close to his mother. June was thankful for that, Jill didn't seem to view her and Jack as burdens to leave behind. She had become very protective of the two, especially Jack. Even though she didn't want to think about not surviving this nightmare, June could at least take comfort in knowing that he was in good hands should anything happen to her. She was eternally grateful to the former law enforcement officer. The three of them came across a cabin in the nearby cemetery. Both June and Jill knew that being there was a bad idea. The virus that reanimated the dead did have the same effect on the long dead. In fact, this was where the outbreak began, according to Jill. Inside, the cabin was as eerie as one could expect one located in a cemetery could be. Jill searched one side of the area for anything of value, while June and Jack searched the other. Jack stayed close to his mother, until he saw what he thought was a box of ammo on the floor by the storage closet. June didn't notice when he pulled away from her to pick it up._

 _"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"_

 _June's heart jumped out of her chest when she heard her son's agonizing cry. When she turned around, she saw a zombie crawling from of the closet, sinking it's teeth into the boys arm. Motherly instincts kicked in, and she ran up to it and put a single bullet in it's decaying cranium. When she went to her injured son, reality set in. Her heart shattered into a thousand pieces, looking at her baby boy clutching his bleeding arm in pain. He had been bitten. June didn't want to believe it, she didn't want believe what was happening._

 _"No, No, No, Jack, No!"_

 _June held her crying son tightly in her arms, rocking back and forth in despair. He wasn't like them, he was gonna be okay. He was the exception, it was just a bad injury. She a nurse, she could fix it. But in the back of her mind, she had already realized what this meant. Jack had become infected, and he would turn within hours._

 _"Not my baby! Please, not my Jack!"_

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 _They had taken Jack back the the patrol room in the park. His arm was wrapped in gauze to stop the bleeding. If it ever healed, it would leave a hideous scar behind. But it was never going to heal, Jack would succumb to the infection before it would have the chance. June was kneeling by the bench where Jack was resting, face cast down and devoid of all hope. This was it, she had nothing. No son, no reason to escape the city. If he wouldn't make it, then she couldn't do it without him. Behind her, Jill stood against the wall. She was visibly upset by all of this as well. June already knew what she wanted to say, and she was waiting for her to do so._

 _"June?"_

 _June didn't say anything, she just looked at her son lying on the bench. The infection had already begun, a fever was beginning to rise._

 _"June...I'm sorry."_

 _"Why? What did my son do...what did he do to deserve this?"_

 _Jill was silent behind her. June could somehow tell that she was looking away._

 _"Where you found us...Jack was the only reason I made it that far. I did it for him...what do I do now?"_

 _"June...Jack doesn't have long."_

 _June sobbed harshly when Jill told her that._

 _"You don't wanna see what he becomes...I know you can't do it. I'll do it...I'll make sure it doesn't hurt."_

 _June was almost hysterical by this point. The thought of killing her son, of letting someone else kill him, it was tearing her insides apart._

 _"Say what you need to say to him, say your goodbyes, and leave him with me. I'll take care of the rest."_

 _"No."_

 _Jill was quiet again._

 _"Just go."_

 _"June..."_

 _"Leave, escape on your own. I won't leave Jack behind."_

 _"June, there's nothing more you can do for him."_

 _June finally looked at Jill, with the eyes of a broken mother. She stared into the former S.T.A.R.S. member's eyes, seeing the sadness and pity within them._

 _"Thank you, Jill...for getting us this far."_

 _June picked up the pistol that Jill had given to her, and placed it by Jack. She handed Jill the bag of ammo, and the grenade launcher._

 _"Good luck, Jill."_

 _June went back to her son, staring at his form as his chest rose and fell. She full intended to end Jack's suffering, and her own once it was over. She just didn't have the nerve yet. She wanted a few more moments with her only child. Jill stayed for a minute or two, hoping June would change her mind, June suspected. When she left, she left the shotgun by the door. Again, June suspected that it was in case she changed her mind. But she wasn't going to. She was going to die with her son. She rested her head on his chest, and felt his ragged breathing._

 _"I love you, Jackson."_

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 _June didn't know how much time had past, but she hadn't moved her head from Jackson's chest. His breathing had gotten heavier, and she could feel him getting hotter. She knew he was running out of time. She was going to do it before he turned, she swore she would. A few more minutes passed before she heard the door open and shut. She lifted her head up for the first time, and saw Jill Valentine standing before her. She was shocked to see her again, but figured that this was a last effort to get June to go with her._

 _"How is he?"_

 _That surprised June. Jill knew that Jack was a lost cause, and wondered why she was asking about his well being, knowing that it was only going to end one way. She walked up to Jack, and placed her hand on his forehead._

 _"He's got an hour, tops. There's still time."_

 _It was then that June noticed how out of breath Jill was, like she had run back there._

 _"Time for what?"_

 _Jill looked at June, slight optimism in her eyes._

 _"There's a cure June, a vaccine."_

 _June's heart beamed with hope. Jack could still make it._

 _"Where?! Where's the cure?!"_

 _"Raccoon General... but there's a catch."_

 _June was silent, waiting to hear the bad news._

 _"The hospital was owned by Umbrella. It was a secret testing facility, which means, it'll be crawling with zombies. It'll be crawling with creatures worse than zombies. I can't make my way through it and make it back here in time on my own. I need your help, June."_

 _June was at a loss. Of course she wanted to help Jill, to save her son. But she couldn't leave him all alone in a park right next to a cemetery._

 _"We have to take him with us."_

 _"You won't be able to protect yourself and him. If he gets bit again, he'll turn even faster."_

 _"But...but I can't just leave him here."_

 _"Listen June, this park used to be a major drug spot. The windows here are bulletproof. If we lock the door, Jack should be safe. But if we wanna save him, we have to go right now."_

 _June looked back at her son, weak and sickly._

 _"I don't want to lose him either, June."_

 _Jill held the shotgun out to June. She looked back at Jackson again, before taking it. Jill stood by the open door, while June went back to her son._

 _"Hold on, baby. Mommy will be back soon."_

 _She kissed Jack on his forehead, and cast one last look to him before leaving with Jill. She prayed to whatever God was listening, that this would not be the last time she could look at her son._

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 **First of all, I would like to say thank you if you haven't jumped ship after my epic shark jumping last chapter. Yeah, I thought it was a good time to bring the feels into the story. I also wanted to flesh out June, since she's gonna be playing a big role. Parents often act stronger than they really are for the sake of their children. Here, this is something June struggles with. We've seen how she reassures Jack that the past is behind them, but here, we're shown that the past still haunts her even more than it haunts Jack. I really wanted to capture that helpless feeling of a parent watching their child dying, and the hope of being able to stop it. Hopefully, I've succeeded here. Also got some nice bonding moments with Jack and Arcee. Don't worry, I intend to have her play a role in all this as well. So this chapter was actually twice as long, but I split it in two. Felt a bit too long in my opinion. Also, I'm sorry to say that the next chapter won't feature Jill and June fighting there way through the hospital for the vaccine. Hope you still enjoy the read, and forgive the typos galore.**

 **A question for the philosophers: Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"?**


	5. Chapter 5

_June and Jill had the vaccine, and were making there way back to the park. It wasn't easy, in fact, it was an ordeal of it's own. Zombies, crimson heads, and whatever the hell that giant monster that kept coming after Jill was were already burned into June's subconscious. The creatures that they encountered in the hospital would haunt her for decades to come. But they had the vaccine for Jack. Now they just had to get back to him, and pray that it wasn't too late. When they managed to reach the patrol room, June felt every bit of panic in her entire being. Fifteen, maybe twenty of them, all surrounding the patrol room, and Jack had maybe minutes left. If she had gone through all that just to come up this short, it would break her._

 _"Okay, good news: They must be trying to get to Jack, which means he hasn't turned yet. Bad news: We don't have long before he does, one of them is about to go crimson, and I don't have any more grenade rounds. So here's the plan, I cut a path to the door, and you rush through. Sound good?"_

 _June didn't confirm, she just stared at the metal door that the zombies were clawing at. Anxiety was taking control of her, and she about to lose her mind. Jill handed her the vial filled with the pink vaccine and an injector gun. Both of them armed their weapons, Jill with her M4, June with her shotgun. Without hesitation, they ran for the pack. Jill immediately opened fire on the group, unfortunately hitting their chests instead of there heads. The shots knocked them down, and scattered a few more. June began firing upon them indiscriminately. The plan had already been aborted, and they were just trying to get them away from the door. June had downed four of them already, but they refused to leave the entrance alone. Her shotgun went dry, so she pulled out her pistol. She fired at every zombie that came close to her. Her son's life was on the line, and she didn't have time to waste on these creatures._

 _"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"_

 _She fired what was left of her pistol, and went to reload it. Before she knew what hit her, she was tackled to the ground by one of them. It went for her face, but she held it back by the neck. But the zombie was overpowering her, and getting closer. As it was about to take a chunk out of June, a pair of hands came from behind it. The took hold around the monsters head, and snapped it's neck to the side. It fell over, revealing Jill standing behind it. June was about to scream when she saw two closing in on Jill from behind. She put a stop to that by round-housing the both of them to the ground._

 _"Go June, I cleared a path for you!"_

 _June grabbed the shotgun, got up, and ran for the door. As she fumbled with key, she saw a rapidly growing shadow being cast on the door. She turned just in time to block it's claws with her empty weapon. The crimson head snarled at her, trying to get at her throat. She was so close, but this monster was keeping her from her son. A rifle went around the beast's neck, and swung him over to the ground. Once again, Jill had saved June. She pulled out her magnum, having saved the last bullet for something like this. But before she could take aim at it's head, the crimson had gotten too close. Jill ended up shooting it's face, which was enough to knock it down again, but not enough to kill it. It got up once more, and ran for the two again._

 _"Jill!"_

 _Having loaded a few shells into the shotgun, June pushed Jill out of the way, and fired point blank into it's chest. On the floor once more, June didn't let it get back up. She ran up to it, and fired right into it's head. Catching her breath, June noticed that there was still a handful of zombies left. She ran back to Jill, who had reloaded her rifle._

 _"Go June, I got this."_

 _June handed Jill the shotgun, and ran into the patrol room. Inside, Jack was still unconscious on the bench. He had become deathly pale, and June felt her chest tighten in fear._

 _"Jack?"_

 _She ran over to the boy, and felt for a pulse. It was there, but it was faint. She took out the vaccine and injector gun, and prayed that it was not too late._

 _"Please Jack, hold on."_

 _She injected the vaccine into Jackson's neck and waited. She could hear Jill opening fire on the zombies outside. She stared at her son, not seeing any changes. He was getting neither better or worse. The door opened, and an exhausted Jill came through._

 _"Is he okay?"_

 _June looked at her with ever so cautious optimism._

 _"I don't know. It's not changing anything."_

 _Jill walked up and felt Jack's forehead._

 _"He's still feverish. He doesn't have long. It's gonna be a close race...the virus or the vaccine taking effect. All we can do is wait."_

 _Jill stood against the opposite wall, while June stayed with Jack. The next moments would be the longest in her entire life._

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 _"There are loved ones in the glory_  
 _Whose dear forms you often miss._  
 _When you close your earthly story,_  
 _Will you join them in their bliss?_  
 _Will the circle be unbroken_  
 _By and by, by and by?_  
 _Is a better home awaiting_  
 _In the sky, in the sky?"_

 _June's soft voice filled the room as she stroked the black hair covering her beloved son's head. As the moment of truth drew near, fear was beginning to rise inside of her. If all of this was for naught, then June was prepared to go along with her previous plan. She would allow Jill to send Jackson off, then she would take her own life. Time seemed to be standing still, and that they would be waiting in the patrol room forever. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad, Jack staying like this, her singing to him. It would be better than the alternative._

 _A sound from Jack had caused June to stop singing. He began groaning and shifting, causing June to wait with bated breath. Did the vaccine work, or did the virus change him?_

 _'Please Jack, please don't leave me.'_

 _Jack lifted his head slightly, unable to open his eyes. When he finally did, June saw those beautiful stormy blues that favored her own._

 _"m-mommy?" he said oh so weakly._

 _June's emotion came out in the form of a gasp, her open mouth struggling to form a smile. She heard Jill exhale behind her, hearing a tremble in her breath._

 _"Jack?" She said with a cracked voice._

 _"Mommy, why are you crying?"_

 _June hugged her son tighter than she ever had in her whole life, her whole body throbbing from her sobs._

 _"Jack...my baby. Thank God."_

 _Jack didn't seem to understand what was going on, or remember what happened._

 _"Mom, my arm hurts."_

 _June released Jack, and held his face to look into his eyes. Her precious baby boy, he was still with her._

 _"I love you, Jack. I love you so much."_

 _She kissed Jack on his forehead, then both cheeks, and then put her face into his shoulder. Jack noticed that Jill was crying as well, though not as much as June._

 _"What's wrong Jill? Are you hurt?"_

 _Jill walked up to him, and stroked his cheek with her finger._

 _"I'm just fine little one, I'm just fine. Look at you, you're the only one here not crying like a baby. How'd you get to be so brave, huh?"_

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June was calm now, feeling her son's comforting arm rubbing her shoulder. She was still thinking about the whole ordeal, however. After that near tragedy, they went back to the hospital to create more vaccines, should any of them become infected. Four were made in total, one for each of them, and one for Jack's father when they made out of the city. She kept two of them in her safe that both she and Jack knew the combination to. When Jack's father left them, unwilling to help them with their trauma, he took the third with him.

The feeling of hopelessness from that day was still so easy to remember. In her worst nightmares, the vaccine doesn't work. Jack turns into one of this creatures, and June has to do the unthinkable. She always wakes up before she has to pull the trigger. She never wanted to go through that again, to wait for her son to die and come back...as _them_.

"Ya'know Mom, _you_ saved me that day too."

June pulled away, and looked at her now teenage son.

"You both got the vaccine for me, and fought through zombies and other monsters to get it to me. I'm still alive because of you."

June sniffed a little, still feeling a bit upset.

"But I keep thinking, 'what if it hadn't worked?' Jack...you're my everything. If I had lost you, I wouldn't have been able to go on."

Jack placed both hands on his mother's shoulders.

"I know, but it _did_ work. My arm hurts every now and then, but I didn't turn. We made it, Mom. We survived it together. I had never realized how much you love me until that day."

He wiped a tear from her eye.

"There are times when I wish that Jill was still around, that she was here to protect us, especially after Dad left. But there are times I remember when you protected me throughout the whole thing. Sure, she was more experienced than you, but you never let me leave your side. Whenever a zombie, or a hunter, or a crimson head came after us, you stood in front of me and did whatever you had to do to stop them. I know that's how you got the vaccine to me in time. As scared as I get sometimes, I always think of you two to make me feel better. The reason I get so scared is of you getting hurt trying to protect me. But I'm never worried about myself, not as long as I have you."

June's face was lit up with happiness by what Jack was telling her. She had never realized how much faith he put in her. If he trusted her so, than she needed to be strong for him. She hugged her son once more, cherishing this peaceful moment that was nothing less than a gift. He hugged her back, feeling the same way.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you more."

"I know you do, I've got the scar to prove it."

June pulled away, and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you, Jack."

They sat in silence for a while, June resting her head on Jack's shoulder.

"Maybe you should call in sick tomorrow."

"Can't Jack, working keeps me distracted."

"You should get some rest, then. It's getting late."

"Yeah...I guess you're right."

Jack led June to her bedroom, and set her down on her bed. He removed her shoes, and helped her lay down. As he covered her with the blanket, he noticed the gun on the nightstand.

"Sorry Jack, I've had it for a while."

Jack didn't put much thought into it. He simply leaned over and kissed his mother's forehead. Taking hold of her hand, he sat with her until she fell asleep. Even after June closed her eyes, Jack watched her to make sure that she wasn't plagued with more nightmares. Once he was sure that her sleep would be peaceful, he let her be. Standing outside of her door, Jack thought about Arcee in the garage. He ultimately decided not to tell her the truth, for the sake of his mother. She could tell Optimus, who might go to Fowler, which could come back to haunt them. It was a long shot, Arcee would never betray his trust if he asked her to let it be. But he still didn't want to risk his mother ever having suffer like that again. But he knew Arcee was going to want answers. The only way to give them to her was to lie.

Jack went back to the garage, where Arcee was waiting for him. Evidently, she had not gone into recharge in the time he spent with his mother, as she turned her wheel towards him when he opened the door.

"Hey." He said to the femme.

"Hey...Is your Mom okay?"

"Yeah...just a really bad nightmare."

"I'm glad _we_ don't have those. I don't wanna think about what goes on in my processors."

An awkward silence came upon them, both waiting for the other to speak first.

"Jack?"

"'Cee?"

"What happened to your arm?"

Jack sighed in submittance. He had already come up with a good cover story, but lying to Arcee wasn't going to be easy.

"It was...a long time ago."

Arcee shifted into her bipedal form to look at Jack. Concern was so evident in her face. That was going to make things more difficult.

"Did your father do that to you?"

Arcee learned about fathers from Fowler before she had met Jack. She also learned how some fathers abuse their children. Seeing that Jack never spoke of his own, she often wondered if that was the case with him.

"What? No, no...my Dad is a jerk who ran out on us, but he was never abusive. No, this was something else."

"You're mother said she almost lost you. What happened?"

Jacked braced himself for something he really didn't want to do.

"Look, I'm not really from Jasper."

"You aren't?"

"No, I'm from this city in the midwest called...'Possum City'."

Jack cringed at how much worse that sounded than Raccoon City, but he didn't want Arcee to look into it and find out that it was destroyed.

"City boy, huh? Never would've guessed. Isn't a possum some kind of earth rodent?"

"Uuhhyyeeah, anyway...We lived in a really bad neighborhood. There were tons of drugs everywhere."

"What are drugs?"

Jack mentally groaned. It really seemed weird that someone like Arcee didn't know what drugs were. Granted, she was a transforming mechanical alien.

"Drug are like these things that humans take to make themselves feel good."

"Like medicine?"

"Kind of, except they really don't help you at all. In fact, they slowly kill you, but they make you feel awesome...I'm told. And after awhile, you become addicted to it. Then if you don't have it, you start feeling really sick."

"Oh, so like magnets."

What?

"What?"

"On Cybertron, some mechs or femmes like to stick magnets on their helms to scramble their processors. Really messes them up."

"Oookkaaayy, weird."

"You were saying, Jack?"

"Right, for humans, drugs can make you crazy...and violent. One day, me and Mom were walking home when some drug addict jumped out and started attacking us. He was so strung out, that he bit me in the arm and tore a huge chunk out of it."

Arcee looked away at the sound of it, imagining how much it must've hurt Jack.

"Show me again?"

Jack frowned slightly, but showed her anyway. He pulled up his sleeve, and gave her a closer look at it. Her optics went wide as she ran her servo across it.

"The guy who did this you, what happened to him?" She asked with a fierce look.

"Um...he was arrested, I assume. The cops pulled him off of me, and I doubt they let him go."

Arcee looked away, disappointment very evident. Jack felt a little nervous about that.

"But how did that almost kill you?"

"Well...it got infected, _really_ infected. I got sick...then I went into a coma."

Arcee's pulled back in shock, picturing Jack lying sick on a human berth just like Optimus did from the Cybonic plague.

"That really put my Mom through alot. It was for only a week, but I know how worried she must've been. She took off from work, and stayed with me the entire time."

Arcee sympathized with June. No wonder she was so protective of Jack. She continued to look at the horrible scar upon Jack's arm, vowing to never let anyone do something like that to him again. He pulled it back, and lowered his sleeve to cover it up.

"I woke up though, got better, and went home. After that, my parents saved up so they could move us somewhere safer. But the incident really left it's mark on Mom. She has nightmares about it every so often. As you saw, they tend to be really bad."

"Is that why zombies scare you so much?"

"What?"

"Miko told us that human zombies eat other humans. I'm guessing you associate the attack with them."

Jack didn't expect Arcee to bring that up, but decided to make some changes to his story.

"I guess I do. I mean, I actually thought he _was_ a zombie when he bit me."

Arcee looked at him incredulously.

"Really, Jack?"

Jack scoffed defensively.

"Come on, I was ten years old."

"Ten?!"

Oh scrap.

"You were ten, and some maniac on drugs attacked you?!"

"Arcee really, it's no big deal."

"He did _that_ to a ten year old. What kind of fleshy..."

"Shhhh Arcee, my Mom's sleeping."

Arcee stopped herself, remembering the emotional June.

"Sorry, Jack."

Arcee was calm, but still fragging mad. Thinking about her partner, a younger Jack, being put in the hospital by some drug induced creep really brought out her rage. She was much more protective of Jack than she had realized.

"It's in the past now 'Cee. Yeah, it definitely left some scars, physical and mental. And I have nightmares every once in a blue, but I'm over it. Part of that is because of, well, you guys."

That wasn't a lie. Jack had come a long way thanks to Arcee and the Autobots. The femme smiled, and put her servo on Jack's shoulder.

"I'm glad we could help, Jack."

Jack put he hand on her servo.

"Thanks, Arcee."

A yawn let Arcee know that Jack was ready to turn in for the night.

"Go to bed, Jack. Don't let me keep you up."

"Thanks...night Arcee."

Jack walked to the door, as Arcee shifted back to her alt form.

"Jack?"

He looked back at the two wheeler.

"Sweet dreams."

He smiled, and went back into house. When she was alone, she processed all that she had learned from the day. It made alot of sense, his fear of zombies, June's ultra protectiveness, the long sleeve shirts...But one thing didn't make sense. June was a trained nurse. She would never let Jack's bite get infected so badly. If she had, she would've blamed herself. But she didn't speak of any guilt about "almost losing Jack". Because of this little fact, Arcee didn't believe that he was telling her the truth.

"Why are you lying to me, Jack?"

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Somewhere in Northern Ireland, a man was being held captive in a secret research facility. He was being monitored by several dangerous looking people wearing masks and red goggles. His face had been beaten beyond recognition during an interrogation. Now the guards were waiting for the man in charge to decide this unlucky soul's fate. As it happens, he had just entered the room moments ago. He was a tall man, with a stoic expression. Everything about him screamed bad news. He had his blonde hair slicked back, and hid his eyes behind pitch black shades. The black leather long coat he wore only added to his intimidating presence. When he spoke, his voice could only be described as villainous.

"Why am I here?"

"Sure, this is Joshua Darby. He was picked up by our operatives in Canada."

"You say that like it means something to me."

"He was attempting to sell _this_ to a black market dealer from Belfast."

He held out a vial of purple liquid.

"It's the vaccine to the T-Virus, sir."

"I can see that, you fool."

The tall man took the vaccine, and examined it curiously.

"Interesting...So he is a survivor of Raccoon City."

"No, sir. His bank records show him purchasing a hotel room in Maryland at the time of the incident. He claims he was on a business trip when it all happened."

"So how did he get his hands on this, then?"

"He says that he got it from his wife, that she and their son were survivors of the incident."

He pondered for a moment.

"They must've escaped with Valentine and Burton. That woman is becoming a real thorn in my side. Do we know who the wife and son are?"

"Yes sir, June and Jackson Darby."

"This family seems to have a fondness for the letter J, ridiculous. Have we got a location?"

"Working on that as we speak, sir?"

"Excellent, inform me when you've found them. And as for him, keep him locked up for now. We'll find a use for him in time. We can never have too many test subjects."

"Yes, Captain Wesker."

The guard continued to watch the prisoner, as Wesker left the lab. The Darby family were loose ends that needed to be tied up. But before that, they could prove to be useful at luring Jill Valentine out of hiding. With them as bait, he could finally rid himself of her and Chris Redfield once and for all.

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 **Two things I've realized. One, I kinda wrote the whole Jill, Jack, and June dynamic the same as Claire and Sherry. That was not intentional, I promise. What was intentional was writing Carlos out. I'm sorry, but I just find him so uninteresting, even in Umbrella Chronicles. Two, in the first two chapters, I used the phrase "I won't let anything happen to you" alot. I wonder if I should change the title of this story to that. Hm. So we've got the plot rolling now, Wesker is on Jack and June's trail. Gotta decide where I'm gonna go with that. Now, as for June's OOCness, I thought it made sense to give her some strength she didn't have or show in TFP. I figure, ya gotta be strong to survive a zombie apocalypse, especially when you're trying to protect a kid. But I made sure to keep her vurnerable. For me, all the best baddasses are vurnerable people with weaknesses like Arcee, The Crystal Gems, Jax Teller, Omar Little, Richard Harrow, Michonne, Korra, etc. etc. So yeah, June will protect her son at all costs. Also, the song June is singing to Jack is Christian hymn called "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"." You might have heard it if you went to church, or if you've played Bioshock Infinite. Here's to the next chapter.**

 **The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and "Thou shalt not lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment.**

 **Yes, George Carlin is my favorite comedian.**


	6. Chapter 6

June Darby sat beside her son. Her nerves were all over the place, and it wasn't because of usual reasons. Her day had started off normally enough and seemed to end the same, until she was kidnapped. She was about to get in her car before she heard a van door slide open. What happened after that was hazy. When she came to, she saw that she was dangling from some construction platform, encased in a cocoon of sticky...she didn't want to know. But what caused her heart to stop right in her chest was the sight of Jack trying to save her. She didn't know what was going on, or how he was involved in it, but images of her sick and dying son were flashing in her mind. Before she could descend into that dark and scary place, something else caught her attention. Black and purple, eight legs, metallic face, glowing purple eyes, and a very sadistic smile. June thought that after Raccoon City, nothing could scare her aside from those creatures. She was wrong. Jack was telling the truth, the robots were real. But then that meant that his motorcycle...

Before everything snapped into place, the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine caught her attention. Just like Jack had said, the vehicle transformed into a robot. It, or rather she, attacked the spider robot, allowing Jack to pull her up to the platform. After it was all said and done, Jack and "Arcee" took June for a ride. They drove up to a mesa just outside of Jasper. It turned out to be a missile silo that was converted into a secret base of some kind. Once she caught sight of the other, much bigger "Autobots", her voice was completely taken from her. When the big, red, and blue one introduced himself as Optimus Prime, her only response was to nervously wave like a fool.

After a lengthy explanation from Optimus, Jack set his mother down on the couch in the living area. She was much calmer than he expected her to be, but not completely settled.

"Alot to take in, isn't it?" Jack asked his mother.

"Surprisingly, this is alot easier to deal with than...that _other_ incident."

"Yeah...I thought so too."

"Jack, is this what you've been doing since you brought the motorcycle home? This is where you come to after work, and why you kept missing curfew?"

"Yeah Mom, it just sort of happened. But what happened today isn't an everyday thing, I swear."

"So...these Autobots, they protect you three?"

"Yeah, with their lives if they have to. That's why we're all here, because they were afraid of the Decepticons coming after us."

That seemed to be a relief to her.

"Do they know? Does Arcee know?"

Jack shook his head, feeling ashamed that he hadn't told Arcee the truth the other night in the garage.

"No...Arcee saw the scar, where it bit me. But I made up a story about getting bit by some drug addict. I think she believed me."

Jack could tell that June didn't exactly approve.

"I suppose you can't tell them the truth, seeing as they answer to the government. I guess that means I can't thank them either."

Confusion.

"What do you mean?"

June looked at Jack with a smile.

"Well, you've gotten alot better over the past month or so. No nightmares, no anxiety, you even helped get me through a particularly rough night. It all makes sense now. It's because of them. Being around these 'Cybertronians' has really helped you to move forward. Even before that night you called me at work, I knew you were still suffering. Arcee and Optimus, they must've given you a boost of confidence because you've become a whole new person. I was happy for you Jackson, that you were finally beginning to let go. I wish I could tell them all how grateful I am for that."

Jack couldn't hide his smile, or the happiness that he felt. His mother seemed to have accepted the Autobots, and now that she knew about them, maybe she could get better as well.

"As long as you're not in harms way, I can live with the knowledge that you're friends are alien robots. Knowing that they'll protect you if you're ever in danger again, that'll help me sleep better at night. Maybe I can start moving forward myself."

Jack responded by hugging June, which was returned gratefully.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you more, baby"

"I know, I've got the.."

"Scar to prove it." They said in unison.

Jack was still concerned, though.

"But are you alright after all this, Mom?"

June looked at her son curiously.

"I mean, getting kidnapped, meeting Airachnid of _all_ 'Cons...None of that brought up bad memories for you, did it?"

June looked at Jack, seeing how worried he was for her.

'When did you grow up on me, Jackson?'

"For a moment...they did, until I saw Arcee. Now that I know that she'll keep you safe, I don't have to worry anymore."

They were both silent for a few seconds.

"Mom, what happened your gun?"

"Oh, it was in my purse, but they knocked me out before I could get a chance to use it. My guess is, they took it."

Jack stood up and reached under his shirt behind him. He pulled out his .22 and placed it on the table. Before he and Arcee went to rescue June, he ran back into the house and grabbed it. In hindsight, a gun of that caliber wasn't going to do any good against the armored M.E.C.H. agents or Airachnid. Still, he was glad that they didn't search beyond his pockets when they took his phone. Explaining it to Arcee would've been a challenge. June looked at the pistol, then back at Jack.

"I don't think we need them anymore, Mom."

June placed her hand on Jack's, smiling at her almost adult son.

"I think you're right Jackson, we don't."

June took the gun, and placed it in her purse. Fowler had given it back to her after the rescue, minus the Kimber of course.

"Does she remind you of her too, Jack?"

"Arcee? Yeah she does. A little rougher around the edges, especially with me, but she kicks aft all the same."

"Aft?"

"I mean, she's awesome. And you're right, she's not gonna let anything happen to us."

Jack noticed a wry smirk on his mother's face.

"So...do you have a massive crush on her too?"

Jack's face went as red as a hot rod.

"Mom, seriously?!"

"For an alien robot, she does have some attractive features. Thinking back, you actually did bring home a girl that day. And _you_ made her sleep in the garage. What kind of boyfriend are you, Jack?"

"Mom!"

As the two playfully teased each other, Arcee stood below them. She was listening in on the whole thing.

'You _did_ lie to me, Jack.' She thought to herself.

'Why? I thought we were partners.'

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Albert Wesker was overseeing various test subjects injected with either the T-Virus, the G-Virus, or the experimental stage C-Virus. The T-Virus was functioning as it usually did, mutating the host into undead creatures with no intelligence. The G-Virus was affecting it's hosts one of two ways: by killing it, or mutating it grotesquely. Rather than turning the human host into a "zombie", it turned them into grotesque monsters that no longer resembled anything human. After the incident with Dr. William Birkin and his damnable wife Annette, Wesker saw it's potential for human enhancement. But after numerous trials, he found it impossible to solve the matter of the host's extreme body deformation, or the near complete loss of intelligence. On top of that, the strength and uncontrollable rage of the host made testing extremely risky. Test subjects were to be kept isolated in a room built in with safety protocols to terminate the mutation should they be unable to control it. Thankfully, destroying the creature proved to be much easier than Wesker had expected. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with another Lisa Trevor.

'Such wasted potential.' he thought of the failed experiment.

Thinking of Lisa Trevor brought to mind Sherry Birkin. The daughter of the late Birkin Doctors had been implanted with a G-Embryo by her mutated father. Because of this, she was much more compatible with the embryo than that rapist fool of a police chief, Brian Irons. Had Chris' sister not interfered, Sherry would have provided invaluable information in perfecting the G-Virus. It seemed that the entire Redfield family has taken up a cause to stand in Wesker's way. By now she had become an adult, and was currently under government supervision. Because of Umbrella's exposure to the public, the government has since denied them the chance to study the girl. Again, so much wasted potential. A successful bonding of the G-Virus and a successful treatment of it, it was a crime against humanity not to let Umbrella study her.

For now, Wesker was going to have to settle on this new formula, the C-Virus. Despite improvements in some areas, the results were already unpromising. The mutation process was the most unstable. The infected would suddenly burst into flames, only to be encased in some form of chrysalis shell, hence the name C-Virus. When they emerged from their shells, they had varying degrees of mutation. Some had grown extra, inhuman appendages on parts of their body. Others exhibited no signs of mutation at all. Some became different creatures entirely, resembling a reptilian creature, or a creature with a near impenetrable outer shell. All of these beings developed hostility towards other organisms, and a need to spread the virus. The one promising factor was that the subjects that maintained their human appearances, extra appendages or otherwise, still retained a great deal of human intelligence and even memory in a few cases. The damning factor was the genetic instability of the subjects. After a prolonged period of time, the test subject would begin to break down and ultimately die. Despite his best efforts, Wesker could not overcome this setback. The bodies of the test subjects could only adapt to the virus so much, and ultimately rejected it in the end. How he wished for William's daughter.

"Captain Wesker, sir."

Wesker pulled away from his research.

"What is it, Russell?"

"We've located the mother and son."

Wesker's attention became undivided. This took precedent.

"Where?"

"A small town in Nevada, sir. Jasper, I believe it's called."

"Jasper, I've heard of that town, the so called 'entertainment capital of the world'."

"The brochure lied, sir."

"Indeed. So, they thought they could hide from us in the desert. Prepare for departure. Locate someone who can get in contact with Jill Valentine. When we have the woman and her boy in our custody, I want her to know about it. You have one hour."

"Sir!"

Now that they have been located, it was time to move. Unpromising virus strains were going to have to wait. Securing Umbrella's secrecy was of the utmost importance, for Umbrella at least. For Wesker, getting rid of his old S.T.A.R.S. comrades was something that he had been waiting to do for six years.

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Optimus had spent the last few hours filing reports for Agent Fowler. Such work was a far cry from his duties in the Iacon Hall of Records. How the Prime longed for the days of old, when he was but a young clerk with a healthy thirst for knowledge. He pushed those thoughts aside, however. Reliving the past only distracted from the future. As a Prime, it was his job to secure a future for all Cybertronians. Having finished his work, at last, Optimus was about to retrieve his daily energon intake. He was disrupted by a knock outside of his quarters. Standing in the doorway was his second in command, Arcee. To his surprise, she wore an unusual expression of uncertainty.

"Optimus sir, I'm sorry to disturb you."

"What troubles you, Arcee?"

She hesitated before answering Optimus, looking lost in the process. Prime could only assume it had something to do with her charge.

"It's about Jack, sir."

"I see. And what about Jack concerns you at the moment?"

"Sir...Do you remember when you first appointed me to watch over him?"

"I do, you were in a very different place back then, a much darker place."

"Yeah...we'd just lost Cliffjumper, then we found him again...but he wasn't..."

He could see her going through the painful memory of losing her partner twice in two days. He didn't intend to make her relive that terrible event.

"But you have since come back from that tragedy, and have also come to accept our new home. Would it be wrong to assume that Jackson is the reason?"

Her smile, a rare thing to see though not so much in recent days, gave Optimus his answer.

"Yes sir...he is. I don't how he did it...but I'm glad I met him. And to think, I wanted to throw him off when he hopped on me to try and impress some girl."

"Is that how you came to meet each other?"

"Yeah, that's how I met Jack, the smooth operator."

She stared off for a moment, reminiscing no doubt. Optimus almost did not want to interrupt her.

"You two share a close bond."

"I guess we do."

"Which is why you are worried for him."

As if she remembered her dilemma, her solemn expression returned.

"Yes."

"Is this about the incident with Airachnid and M.E.C.H.?"

"No sir, it's about the day he left."

"Hm. If I recall, we believed that the concept of reanimated dead was a personal fear for him."

"Well...yes, sir..."

Arcee sighed, seemingly trying to think of the best way to word her dilemma.

"A few nights ago, not long after our first encounter with Airachnid, I took Jack home like I always do. When I pulled into his garage, June was waiting for him, and she was upset about something."

Concern rose within Optimus. He had grown fond of Jackson's creator, or mother as humans called them.

"She lifted up Jack's sleeve, and I saw that his arm was scarred, badly."

Optimus grew even more concerned.

"After that, she broke down. She was crying hysterically in Jack's arms, talking about almost losing him. They went in the house for a while, and Jack came back out to explain what happened."

"And what _did_ happen to Jackson's arm?"

"He said he was bit by a random guy in his old home. Apparently, he lived in some place called 'Possum City'. The wound became infected, and Jack was comatose for a cyber-week."

Optimus was growing more worried as Arcee explained the story.

"He pulled out of it, but the incident left some trauma on both him and his mother. And the reason he's so scared of zombies, is because he thought the human that bit him _was_ a zombie. He was ten when this all happened."

That caused anger to stir inside of Optimus, an adult human bringing harm to a child. It didn't take long before Optimus discovered a logical fallacy in Arcee's story.

"If I am not mistaken, Ms. Darby is a trained practitioner in the field of medicine. I find it odd that she would allow Jackson's injury to become infected, given her medical expertise."

"My point exactly, Optimus."

Her face became stern. Optimus understood what she was implying.

"You believe that he lied to you."

"I thought so, but wasn't certain. Then last night happened, and I was sure of it."

"I do not understand."

"I heard them both talking. Jack admitted to June that he told me a fake story, and she seemed okay with it. They mentioned not being able to talk to the government, or something like that. Optimus, something happened to them both. Whatever it was, it's affecting them even now. June spoke of nightmares they both use to have, and Jack...Optimus, Jack was armed."

The Prime recoiled in shock. The idea of Jack possessing a weapon of any kind was something he found hard to envision.

"He had a weapon?"

"Yes sir, as did June before she was taken by M.E.C.H. I don't know what's going on, but I'm worried."

"And you are wondering why Jack did not tell you the truth."

Arcee wore an expression that was a mixture of anger, hurt, fear, and worry.

"I just...I don't understand why he thought he couldn't trust me. He knows I'll protect him from anything. I told him things that I've never even told Cliffjumper _or_ Tailgate. I mean, I'm his partner. Who can he trust more than me?"

Optimus thought for a few moments about what Arcee was telling him. Jack was not the type to lie unless he had a very good reason to. If Arcee wanted to know the truth, she was going to have to put his mind at ease before he would reveal anything.

"Fear, Arcee. Fear is what is holding him back."

"But what does he have to be afraid of, so long as we're here?"

"Fear of judgment, perhaps. Or maybe he fears of remembering the past in too great of detail. Trauma can sometimes cause those that have suffered to repress their memories and the horrors that they bring."

"Not Jack. He's not the kind of person to lie to himself."

"Perhaps the best course of action would be to confront Jackson directly. Explain that you know that he was not honest with you, and that you wish to know the truth about his past."

Arcee looked down with consideration, but also apprehension.

"However, you must not confront him with anger or hostility, but rather understanding and compassion. Make it clear to Jackson that while disappointed with his dishonesty, you are still deeply concerned for him. Help him to understand that he can put his trust in you, and that you will protect him from whatever is causing such fear. Do you understand Arcee?"

Optimus could tell that she was taking his advice seriously and nodded her head to show it.

"I understand, sir."

"Then I suggest you head back to the main hall. It is almost time to take Jackson home."

"Yes sir...And thank you."

"You are very welcome, Arcee."

Arcee left Optimus alone in his quarters with his own thoughts. The things he learned from her were troubling to say the least. Despite not being a personal guardian to any of the children, he had come to care about them all a great deal. Jackson had come to intrigue him the most, seeing so much of his younger self in the teenager. He hoped that Arcee could get through to Jackson. If she could not, he was prepared to take matters into his own servos.

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Jack and Arcee rode through the night without saying much to each other. She had both mirrors fixed on him to watch him closely. He still hadn't realized that her mirrors were how she kept an eye on him while they rode together. She wondered what her partner was thinking at the moment, if he was still afraid but not showing it. Of all the four humans under the Autobot's protection, Jack was the hardest to read. He was alot like Optimus in that way.

"Jack?"

"Yeah 'Cee?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Are you sure, Jack? There's nothing wrong?"

No doubt he was confused.

"I'm fine Arcee. What's gotten into you?"

"What about your Mom? Is she okay?"

"Arcee, everything's fine. Really, we're doing great."

Arcee lowered her mirrors.

"You can me tell anything, partner. Anything at all."

"I know."

"I promise, I won't judge you. You can trust me, Jack."

She didn't intend to sound so worried when she talked to him.

"Arcee, what's wrong?"

Arcee didn't answer as she pulled up to his house.

When they entered the garage, Jack dismounted her and she shifted to her bipedal form. She just knew her emotions were visible to him.

"What's going on, Arcee?"

"Jack, what really happened to your arm?"

Shock took hold of Jack's face. He tried his best to not look her in the optics.

"I...I told you already, a drug addict bit me and it...got infected"

Arcee put a digit beneath his chin and lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"Please don't lie to me, Jack."

Guilt had come across his face. Arcee wasn't trying to guilt him into a confession, but she couldn't control the hurt in her voice.

"Arcee...I..."

"I'm not mad, Jack. I'm just scared, scared of what you're not telling me, scared that you had a gun with you yesterday."

Again, Jack looked shocked as Arcee revealed what she knew. Her voice kept quivering when she talked. He shifted his eyes downward to avoid her.

"Look at me, Jack. You're my partner, I trust you more than anyone. I need you to do the same right now. I swear before Primus, by the All-Spark, on all I hold dear to me including you, that what you tell me never leaves this garage. I won't tell anyone, not Optimus, not Bumblebee, not Miko, _not Fowler_."

She emphasized that last one, knowing that it was a big reason why he was keeping her in the dark.

"Jack, what happened in Raccoon City?"

His eyes went wide, and she heard him gasp as he pulled away from her servo. After figuring out that he wasn't telling the truth the night she saw his scar, she did some research into his hometown. She discovered that there was no such place as "Possum City". After doing some research into June's financial history, she discovered an apartment in her and her husband's name in Raccoon City. Upon further research, she learned of it's destruction caused by a nuclear meltdown. But the more she looked into it, the more she realized that something was not right about the story. The details were sketchy, and many conspiracy blogs had a number of outlandish theories about what actually happened. She wanted to ask Jack then and there, but seeing that his father had been outside of the city at the time and assuming that Jack and June were with him, she had decided to look no further into it. Finding out what she did the night before, Arcee decided that Raccoon City played a major part in Jack's secret. By this point, he was looking downright scared. Whatever he was hiding, it put fear in his heart. Before she could reassure him that she wouldn't allow any harm to come to him or June, she was interrupted.

 _"Arcee, we need you back at base immediately."_

Arcee reluctantly answered the medic.

"Now Ratchet? Right Now?"

 _"Afraid so, Arcee. It's Megatron this time, Optimus needs all of us on this mission."_

She sighed in defeat.

"Send a ground bridge."

The ground bridge opened up in front of her, but she couldn't pull her sights from the frightened teen.

"We'll talk about this more when I get back."

Before she left, she put a servo on his shoulder.

"Do you trust me, Jack?"

Jack looked up, still with guilt. He slowly nodded his head. She smiled, but only a bit. She didn't like seeing him this way.

"It's okay, Jack. I'm not angry with you, I promise. We'll figure this out."

Arcee forced herself away from him, casting a glance before going through the portal. Once she was gone, Jack leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. His emotions got the better of him, he dropped his head on his folded arms and began to cry. How did she find out? He did she know he was lying to her? How did she know about Raccoon City? He was doing so well, but the thought of having to relive that day had sent him right back the dark parts of his imagination. He couldn't hide it anymore. When she returned from her mission, he was going to have to tell her everything. May Primus give the boy strength to do so.

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The living room light could be seen from outside of the Darby home. Moments earlier, a green light was seen through the garage door. Other than that, it seemed like a quiet night. But outside of June and Jackson's home, a man was waiting by the door, a man with a weapon on his shoulder, a man clad in black armor, a man wearing a frightening gas mask, and man wearing a red and white symbol on his shoulder that resembled the top of an umbrella.

"We're in position, sir."

 _"Move in on my command. And remember, I want him alive."_

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 **When the sun goes away, the devil comes out to play. Okay, got alot to talk about here.**

 **KHGiggle: Yes and no. 9 was one source of the idea, but it wasn't an exact reference. I've read robots using magnets to warp their brains in alot of stories about robots and cyborgs and the like. The first time I heard of such a thing was an old Megaman X sprite comic back in like '04. Sprite comics, does anyone remember those? And while we're on the subject of Megaman, my favorite hero of all time, Capcom can burn in hell.**

 **Apologies for the lengthy bit involving Wesker, and for cramming as much Resident Evil backstory as I could.**

 **Now alot of times in TFP fanfiction, when Arcee learns of a secret that Jack was keeping from her, she's either very supportive or pissed as shit. I wanted to find some middle ground. She's no doubt disappointed in Jack for not trusting her, but it willing to hear him out on why. Hence, the OOCness. I figured if anyone was gonna appeal to her reason, it would be Optimus. This was the first time I wrote a section from his point of view too.  
**

 **Also had a bit of foreshadowing thrown in. In case some of you are wondering why I'm glossing over certain events from the show, it's only because I really don't want to have to recap them with slight changes to the story. I've read alot of fiction that follows the episodes of TFP. I really like the changes that are usually made to the story. But having read the same plots so many times, I didn't have it in me to write it out. Unfortunately, Predatory and Crisscross are the two I've read the most next to the Unicron storyline. Anyways, at least the plot is moving now. Oh, and probably should've said this six chapters ago, but Transformers is owned by Hasbro, and Resident Evil is owned by Capcom.**

 **"I don't have a fear of heights. I do, however, have a fear of falling from heights."**  
 **I Miss You Carlin.**


	7. Chapter 7

Jack was going over what had just happened in his garage not a minute ago while sitting in his living room. His Mom had not come home yet. She knew, Arcee knew that Jack had lied to her. Arcee knew that Jack had told her a made up story that took place in a made up city. She knew about Raccoon City, and most definitely knew that is was a city no more. But what else does she know? She couldn't know about what really happened, could she? Impossible, no one outside of the survivors, the people responsible, and the people who covered it up knew about the outbreak. Even the conspiracy bloggers, with all of their ridiculous theories, didn't suspect that the city was overrun by zombies. But she had to know that something was up with the story. Arcee isn't easily deceived and would spot a cover up when she saw one. Who else knew that Jack was hiding something? Did she ask Ratchet to do some research? Did she ask Rafael to try and hack government files? Did she go to Fowler and see what he knew?...No, she said she wouldn't do that. She said that she would keep it between them. She even swore not to get Fowler involved. She must know that what Jack and his mother are hiding is more than just a painful past, their lives are at stake. Maybe that's why she was so hesitant to know the truth. The way she had asked him, it was like she was afraid of what he would tell her.

"Arcee."

Jack couldn't get the look of her face out of his mind. She was so scared, so worried, so...hurt. He had never seen her like that, not even after facing an undead Cliffjumper, not even after facing Airachnid. She was both hurt and terrified. But she wasn't angry, she just wanted to know the truth. She was downright begging Jack to tell her. If she had been human, she might've been in tears. That filled Jack with guilt. Despite his anxiety of her knowing the truth, he still felt like he had betrayed Arcee. After all, she fessed up to him about her past. According to her, he was the first to know all of her secrets. And here he was, harboring his own like he didn't trust her. He did trust her. He just...he didn't want to tell her because...he didn't want to have to remember. It was just too painful to think about, the pain of one of those things tearing your flesh away, the fear of knowing what's to come, going to sleep knowing that you won't be you when you wake up, fearing that you may hurt someone you love...it was just too much. But now that she knew, he wasn't going to be able hide it anymore. He was going to have to tell her the whole story, however painful it may be. He owed it to her to be honest.

'Can't run from the past forever.' He thought to himself.

He needed some time to mentally prepare for what was to come, and began walking to his room. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the sound of a door being kicked off it's hinges. Jack spun around to see his home being invaded by a man wearing black armor and his face hidden by a black gas mask with glowing red optic lenses. He also took note of the sub-machine gun he was carrying. Adrenaline didn't let Jack question what was happening, he just ran as fast as he could for the back door. He got about halfway down the hall before he heard the sound of said door being kicked in, and boots on the kitchen tile. He saw two more masked invaders at the end of the hall, and heard the first coming from behind him. His only escape options were the bathroom, which was closest to him, his own room, and his mother's room. The bathroom was not an option, since the window was far too small for him to get through. Both of the other two rooms had windows for him to escape out of, assuming that there wasn't someone waiting for him outside. His room was much closer, and seemed like the best option. But Jack clung to one hope, and ran for his mother's room down the hall. He raced the nearest masked man in front of him, and barely managed to lock himself in before he could grab him. The door wasn't going to stop him, and he wasn't going to make it to the window. Instead, he raced to his mother's nightstand, praying that she hadn't disposed of her Glock yet. Jack opened the top drawer, and thanked Primus as he saw both her Glock 23 and his Walther P22. The door burst open, and he blindly grabbed at his mother's pistol. He spun around and aimed his weapon at the invader of his home, stopping him in the process. He didn't raise his weapon at Jack like he expected him to, and Jack heard him scoff beneath his mask. It was only now that Jack realized that he had grabbed the wrong pistol. His 22 caliber handgun wasn't going to do a thing against the armored masked man in front of him. The invader simply stared at Jack, as if daring him to take a shot. Jack thought it over for a moment, and wondered if he could switch the his gun out for the 40 caliber behind him. The invader might not know what he was attempting to do and might not react quick enough. But just as Jack was preparing to try his luck, he had noticed that the invader had let his weapon hang from his shoulder and was now holding a taser in his hand. No way was he going for the gun now. Taking a chance that he knew was going to fail, Jack squeezed the trigger. He had never shot anyone before, not even a zombie. But his adrenaline was far too high to think about that now. If by some miracle this actually worked, he was going to have to deal with it if he managed to escape this situation. The gun went off and hit the invader right in the chest. Jack squeezed off two more rounds, hitting him in the chest one more time, and once in the head. They did nothing more than cause him to step back a few times. The head shots sparked against his thick metal helmet, and Jack swore he saw one bullet actually bounce off of his armor. He looked at Jack, most likely with a smug expression beneath the mask.

"May as well have used a slingshot, kid."

In one last desperate attempt, Jack went for the Glock. He hadn't even come to face the nightstand when he felt a pain rip through his back. There wasn't anything he had ever felt worse than being bit by a zombie, but this was close. Something had penetrated his upper back, and was now spreading a stinging hot pain through his muscles. His whole body went stiff, and it felt like his muscles were going to rip themselves apart. He fell to the ground, not even feeling his head hitting the wall next to him. He couldn't even register being dragged by his feet, and turned over to face the shadow figure in front of him. As his vision began to slip away, only one thought had managed to pass through his brain.

"M.E.C.H. doesn't wear black."

With that, Jackson Darby was out like a busted optic.

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Arcee stared at the datapad she was holding, not really paying attention to her assigned task. She was suppose to be keeping count of the energon cubes before Bulkhead and Bumblebee moved them into storage, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking about Jack. The mission she was called away from him for was one where she was certainly needed. Megatron was working on a new type of weapon, and was moving a large amount of energon from his stockpile to power it. Megatron oversaw the project himself, wisely not trusting it in the servos of his SIC Starscream. Arcee didn't know exactly what the weapon was, but she knew that it could devastate the planet if it had become operational. Also, Team Prime was down to their last cubes of energon, and desperately needed to replenish it. And Megatron was there. Optimus Prime could not let the chance to finish off the Decepticon warlord once and for all, thus ending the war, pass him by. Arcee understood that as his Second in Command, Optimus needed her there. It had only taken just under an hour, but the mission was a success...mostly. They had destroyed the weapon and secured the abundant energon cargo, but of course, Megatron had escaped. Now that the mission was complete, she was desperate to get back to her partner so they could finish what they were talking about. Her worry had not diminished during the whole time she was fighting against Starscream. But Ratchet insisted that everyone be present to assist with storing and cataloging their newly acquired spoils.

"Arcee, you can't keep track of our energon by just staring at it." Ratchet spoke from his console.

Arcee shook her helm, and tried her best to finish what she was doing so she could get back to Jack. But the look on his face before she left wasn't easy to forget about. It was just like the day he walk away from the Autobots, so full of fear and uncertainty.

Arcee was not the only impatient one at the base. Miko had apparently initiated a last minute sleepover after Arcee had taken Jack back home, which was why she and Rafael were still there. Of course, she didn't want to waste the night watching Bulkhead move piles of energon cubes into storage.

"Don't worry Miko, we'll get this done soon. And then we can party 'till the sun rises." Bulkhead reassured.

" _Yip-ip-ip-ip_ less talking, more moving." Ratchet interrupted which got an angry huff from Miko.

Miko looked over to Arcee, who was still lost in her own world.

"Hey Arcee, when you're done, why don't you call Jack and ask him if he wants to come back. He's gonna miss out on all the fun. That is, if old Doc Bot'll let us have any." She said while casting a glare in Ratchet's direction.

"Puh-lease, _Jack_ is the most mature of you three. I doubt that he would waste his time with your sleepover. He does have an occupation, you know."

"Way to be a buzzkill, Ratchet."

Arcee had heard enough. She needed some closure, and she needed it now.

"I'm heading back Jack's house. You guys can handle this."

" _Ip, no_. Jackson will be fine without you until morning. This energon still needs to be catalogued and will go alot faster if we all do our jobs."

"Look, before I got called away, me and Jack were talking about something very important."

"Well, it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. Jack is probably down for recharge by now."

Arcee was getting frustrated now, so she looked to Optimus for support.

"Sir, it's about what we discussed earlier."

The Prime's face began to show concern, which was noticed by everyone at the base, even Ratchet.

"Is Jack okay?" Rafael asked quietly.

"He havin' another zombie freakout?" Miko added.

"Sir, I need to get back to him." Arcee nearly pleaded.

"Ratchet, perhaps this task can be postponed until tomorrow." Optimus suggested.

Ratchet was about to voice his objection, but the sound of an incoming call had stopped him.

"Primus, now what? It's Jack's mother."

"Helicopter Mom?" Miko commented.

Ratchet answered the call.

"Yes, Ms. Darby?" He said, more annoyed than he intended.

 _"Please tell me that Jack is with you?!"_

Everyone at base immediately picked up on her panicked tone. Arcee and Optimus grew tense.

"Uh...No, he isn't. Arcee took him home, didn't she?"

June's silence filled the base with tension, only the sound of her panicked breathing was heard on the other end. Arcee pushed Ratchet out of the way.

"June, what happened?"

June didn't answer right away, and when she did, it sounded more like she was speaking to herself and not them.

 _"They took him. Jack...they have him. They have my son."_

Arcee's panic went into overdrive. It had to be M.E.C.H. They took her partner, maybe moments after she had just left him.

"Listen to me, June. Go to your garage, I'm sending you a groundbridge."

June was still not answering back.

"June, I'm gonna find him. I'm swear by the Allspark, I'm gonna find him."

The silence continued until the call disconnected. They stood in place, not saying a word. Miko changed that quick enough.

"M.E.C.H. has Jack!"

"What do they want with him?!" Raf asked nervously.

"Is lady Spidercon behind it this time?!" Miko added.

"Step aside Arcee, I going to try and track his phone." Ratchet ordered.

 _ **"You really think they let him take his phone?!"**_ Bumblebee chirped in.

"It's worth a shot, Bumblebee!" Ratchet replied.

 _ **"It's a waste of time, Jack needs us now!"**_

Bulkhead slammed his fists together.

"I'm gonna smash Silas like he was scaplet!"

"We have to find him first, Bulkhead!" Ratchet said.

"Well what are you waitin' for, Doc?! Track his phone!" Bulkhead replied.

"But Bee's right. M.E.C.H. probably destroyed his phone." Rafael claimed.

"Well do _you_ have a better idea, boy wonder?!" Miko annoyingly asked.

 _ **"Leave him alone, Miko!"**_

"Hey! Don't you yell at her, muscle car!" Bulkhead shouted at Bumblebee.

As the argument got louder, Arcee covered her receptors as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Enough!"

Everyone stopped their bickering and turned to Optimus Prime. He never yelled at his teammates, not once.

"If we are going to rescue Jackson, then we cannot let our emotions cause us to turn against each other. We must work as a team, as a family. Jackson is counting on us."

Everyone calmed themselves down, and looked to their leader with understanding.

"Arcee, I believe Ms. Darby is waiting for a groundbridge."

Arcee pulled herself together, and input to coordinates to the Darby home. The groundbridge came to life, and Arcee waited for June to come through. Anyone could see that she was afraid, afraid of losing Jack, afraid of losing another partner. She felt a large servo on her shoulder, and saw the Prime standing next to her.

"We will bring him home, Arcee. Team Prime will not suffer another loss."

Arcee nodded, but looked away as she did. Even Optimus couldn't reassure her this time. The vortex continue to swirl before them, but June had yet to enter the base. Arcee grew even more worried.

"Something's wrong."

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June Darby had a long day and she was happy to be home. Being a nurse meant being on your feet for hours, running from one side of the hospital to the other. Why some of the female doctors wore heels to work, she'll never know. It was well past midnight when she pulled into her home. She was so beat, that she didn't even notice the missing door as she pulled up. She sleepily got out of her car, and walked up to the front door. Her bed was calling her, begging for her to come back. But the moment she saw her door off of the hinges, any notion of sleep immediately left her thoughts.

'Oh no.'

A hundred thoughts raced through her head, the possibility of whoever broke into her home still being inside was one of them. But the safety of her son caused her to ignore any sense of self preservation.

"Jack?!" She asked fearfully "Jack, are you alright?!"

No answer, and panic began to rise. She made her way into the house and saw that it had been completely turned over.

"Jack, talk to me?!" Her voice was growing more frightened. "Let me know you're here!"

Her chest was beginning to tighten as she made her way down the hall. Jack's door was closed. She prayed to every God she knew of, even the the one that the Autobots believed in, that Jack would be safely behind the door.

"Jack?" she whimpered out.

Jack wasn't there, but his room was as turned over as the rest of the house. She backed away slowly, and tried to rationalize the situation. Jack may not have been home, maybe he missed curfew again. June had become lax when it came to his curfew ever since she learned about Arcee. Arcee! If she was here, she wouldn't have let Jack be taken. He was probably at base right now, completely unaware of what happened. This was probably the work of M.E.C.H., and Arcee had dealt with them before. During her desperate rationale, she had failed to realize that she was in her bedroom. It wasn't until she looked at her opened closet that she snapped out of it. Unfortunately, the reality of what she saw filled her with anything but reassurance. Her safe, where she kept the two vaccines, had been opened. June dropped down to take a closer look, and saw that it had been forced open. Her valuables: birth certificates, savings, her medical degree, all left untouched. Only the vaccines were missing. M.E.C.H. wouldn't be interested in those. But that could only mean...

"No."

It couldn't be, that was impossible. Jill had taken them down. She had heard about it on the news. Even the few stragglers that got away couldn't have been a threat to her and Jack. But the only ones who would've taken her vaccines and nothing else were...Umbrella. June searched desperately for her phone, praying that she could reach Jack. She still held on to the hope that he was still with Arcee. Her phone was still in her purse, which she left at the door. She was about to leave the room, when she noticed her nightstand. The top drawer, where she kept hers and Jack's guns, was open. If they were still there, she was going to need them. But they were gone. That didn't mean anything. They could've taken them for any number of reasons. But as June stepped back, she felt something hard beneath her sneakers. She looked behind her to the floor, and saw three spent shell casings. She picked one up, and saw that it was from a .22 handgun. She choked on her own breath, and dropped the shell on the floor. Someone fired that gun, and she knew who it was. Jack was home, and now he was gone. They had him, they had her Jack. It was just like that day in the hospital, her being separated from her son and not knowing if he was alive or dead. She ran as fast as she could to the living room. June went for her purse, and frantically searched for her phone. She cycled through the contacts until she found Arcee's name. Before she could dial, she had to stop and think. Jill, she had her contact number for just this situation. If she and Jack found themselves in danger again, she was to call Jill as soon as possible. But then, what about the Autobots? Should she get them involved? It seemed obvious that they could help her in ways that Jill couldn't, and Arcee had a right to know that her partner was in danger. But that would mean revealing them to Jill, and betraying their secret. The 'Bots would understand, wouldn't they? June wasn't conflicted for too long when she remembered her son. In one last hope that Jack hadn't been taken, she called the base. She had to know if he was with them or not. If he wasn't, she wouldn't be able to keep them out of it. She was going to have to reveal to them the truth, which could mean that Fowler would find out as well. She was just going to have to risk it, and pray that the Autobots would protect her and Jack from the government. She dialed the base number instead of Arcee, and was answered by Ratchet, who didn't sound too happy to see her. She really didn't care if he was annoyed.

"Please tell me that Jack is with you?!"

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Albert Wesker walked into the testing surveillance room where Jack was displayed on all the monitors.

"He doesn't look like much, certainly not the type to put up a fight." He said to Russell who was monitoring him.

"One of the men claimed he tried to raise up with a low caliber weapon. Alot of good that did him."

"Well, he was prepared, but not for us apparently."

"Sir, the men report that the mother has arrived."

"Tell them that they are not to take June Darby."

"Sir?"

"This isn't about keeping Umbrella a secret, this is about ridding ourselves of a very elusive pest. If I know Jill Valentine, she would have warned the family of our existence, and remained in contact with them. June Darby will know that it was us who took her son and go to Jill for help. That is when we move in to take the both of them. I'm willing to take the mother alive, but when the time comes, I want Jill Valentine terminated."

"Sir!"

"As for the boy, same as his father. Keep him locked up tightly until we find a suitable testing for him."

"Sir, about that. We examined the boy when he was brought to us, and we found some abnormalities."

Wesker turned to Russell, curiosity beneath his shades.

"I'm not a patient man, Russell. What did you find?"

"Sir, he's been bitten."

"Bitten, by a B.O.W.? How can you be sure it wasn't a rabid animal? The boy lived in the desert for Christ's sake."

"We weren't, Sir. But we took a sample of his blood for testing, and what we found...I suggest you see it for yourself, Sir. It's being studied in the labs right now."

Wesker left the surveillance room and proceeded to the labs. His curiosity had been piqued. No one had ever survived a bite from a B.O.W. without mutation, even with the T-Vaccine. If this Jackson Darby had some kind of rare property to his D.N.A., he could prove to be more useful to Umbrella than just another guinea pig. Wesker walked to the testing lab entrance, bypassing all of the quarantine protocols. In the lab, several biologists wearing hazmat suits were studying the many virus strands that Umbrella had created, injecting them in mice and rabbits. Wesker walked in, and immediately got the attention of all the people working.

"Captain, you shouldn't be here without..."

"Step aside, you fool."

"But sir, quarantine protocols state that.."

"Where is it? Jackson Darby's blood sample, I want to see it."

"Sir, you can't..."

Wesker turned to face the biologist who insisted on obstructing him. He look at him through his suit, and removed his glasses. The biologist eyes went wide as Wesker glared into him. Everyone at the Umbrella site knew of Wesker's secret, and dared not to question him. As far as they were concerned, he was Umbrella. They answered to him and him alone, not to the directors. This is why no one had ever reported Wesker's abnormality to them.

"It's over there, Captain."

The biologist pointed to one of the microscopes. Wesker pushed him aside, and walked over to it. He looked into the lenses at the sample of Jack's blood. His mouth went agape at what he saw. He pulled away with complete disbelief. He calmed himself and put his shades back on.

"Russell?" He spoke through his comm link.

 _"Sir?"_

"I want you to continue to monitor Jackson Darby. When he awakens, inform me immediately. You or anyone else are not to approach him. I want to be the first person he sees. I have many questions for the boy."

 _"Of course, sir."_

Wesker smiled at the thought of his new test subject. Now he had a Sherry Birkin of his very own.

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June cycled through her phone, looking for Jill's number. It was as she feared, Jack was taken by Umbrella, and God only knows what they were doing to him. June didn't want to think about it, of her son being their lab rat. She finally found the contact labeled "J.V." and dialed the number. As she did, she heard the ground bridge through her garage door. She didn't want to have to betray the Autobots like this, but her son's life was at stake. They already knew that he was taken, and she needed their help as much as Jill's. And without Jill, they weren't going to find Jack in time. They were going to have to work together, and that meant telling them the truth. She just prayed that Agent Fowler wasn't there at the moment.

 _"Hello?"_ Came a familiar voice on the other end.

The sound of her voice made June lose her own. It had been so long since she last heard from her, three years at least. It may have brought back bad memories of Raccoon City, but it also filled her heart with hope.

 _"Hello, who is this?"_ The voice asked again.

"J-Jill?"

A second of silence.

 _"June?"_

"Jill."

More silence.

 _"June, what happened?"_

"They...they took him. Umbrella they...they have Jack." June said with a shaky voice.

More silence again.

 _"Jasper, Nevada right?"_

"Y-yes."

 _"Three hours June, give me three hours and I'll be there."_

"Wait, there's more."

"June? June are you here?"

June heard Arcee from inside the garage.

 _"What is it, June?"_

"I won't be at my home. I-I had safe house set up in case something like this happened."

 _"Smart June, where is it?"_

"Just a few miles south outside of Jasper. There's this mesa, you'll spot several tire tracks leading up to it."

"June, answer me?! Are you alright?!"

"Just follow the tracks, and it'll lead you there."

 _"Gotcha. Three hours, June. Just hang tight."_

"Jill?"

 _"Yes, June?"_

"When you get there, you're gonna see some strange things. I can't tell you what over the phone, but trust me when I say that they're not dangerous."

Jill didn't say anything on the other end for a moment.

 _"I trust you, June. And I need you to trust me. I'm gonna bring Jack home. I'm not gonna let them hurt him. I swear on my life, June. Just...try to stay calm okay?"_

"I-I trust you too, Jill. Thank you."

The call ended, and June felt a little hope grow in her chest. Her son was gonna survive this. She put her phone away, and walked into the garage where Arcee was waiting by the groundbridge.

"Finally, I was getting worried."

June looked to Arcee, and saw that she was just as scared as herself. She took her alt form, and rode with June through the vortex and to the base.

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An hour had gone by, and still no luck with finding Jack. Of course, Ratchet and Rafael were searching for M.E.C.H. bases and not Umbrella. If June had told them the truth, they might actually be able to find something with Rafael's hacking skills. June was going to be reveal the truth, until Ratchet had informed her that Fowler was on his way. It made sense, he could use his resources and intel to locate M.E.C.H. who they thought was behind this. At this moment, June was debating whether or not to come clean as she sat on the steps of the platform. Fowler seemed like a trustworthy man. He might not even know the truth about Raccoon City. And he seemed to like Jack well enough. But June had no idea who his superiors were. All it took was one person, and June would be exposed even more. She had no idea if Umbrella was still linked to the Government, and what they would do to hide their connections to them. It didn't matter really. In about two hours, Jill was gonna be there. June was going to have to tell her secrets then. A shadow had cast over her, and June saw a concerned Arcee when she looked up.

"Can we talk in private?"

June decided to do as she asked, and followed her to one of the storage rooms down the hall. The room was empty, safe for a few glass cubes that were as big as dumpsters. Arcee shut the door of the storage room and crouched to be at eye level with June.

"June...I'm really sorry this happened. I was with Jack right before he was taken, but I got called on a mission."

"Arcee, I don't blame you. I just want my son back."

"And I'm gonna bring him back, June. I swear on my own spark. But...I need to know what's going on."

June looked on with unease. What was Arcee talking about?

"Look, I know about Raccoon City."

June gasped and went wide eyed. Arcee immediately tried to reassure her.

"It's okay, June. I haven't told anybody. And no matter what you tell me, I won't let Fowler go running back to his superiors to share your secrets. If I gotta lock him up in Optimus' trailer, I will. And you know something, he'd let me do it. You, Jack, Miko, Raf, you're safety trumps human bureaucracy by a landslide. If the government knowing about your past puts any of you in danger, then we will do everything in our power to protect you. That's what I was trying to tell Jack before I got called away on my mission. You can trust us June. We will not let anything happen to you."

The hope she felt was getting bigger and bigger.

"M.E.C.H. didn't take Jack, did they?"

June looked down.

"No."

"Who did take him?"

June held her own arms, thinking of the people who destroyed a whole city.

"Umbrella."

"Umbrella? Who or what is Umbrella? And what do they want with you and Jack?"

June said nothing, trying gather her strength.

"Let's go back to the others."

"June, please..."

"I trust you, Arcee. I trust them too. Which is why I want _all of you_ to know the truth. But no matter what happens, Fowler cannot leave the base until I get my son back."

Arcee's face became stern.

"You have my word, June."

The two of them walked back to the main hall, where Team Prime was still hard at work trying to find Jackson. Fowler was still on the walkway by the elevator, Rafael and Ratchet still by the consoles, and everyone else waiting to do their part. June sat back on the steps of the platform, while Arcee went to have a word with her fellow Autobots. Miko came down and took a seat next to June. It surprised her when she rested her head on her shoulders. Miko seemed to be more worried about Jack then she let on. June put a comforting arm around her and rested her head on top of hers.

Arcee had finished talking with the others, and gave June a reassuring nod. Bulkhead had walked over to where Fowler was, and quickly took the government agent from the platform.

"What the Sam Hill are you doin', Bulkhead?!"

Bulkhead held Fowler with a tight grip, ensuring that he couldn't squirm out of his servos.

"Sorry Fowler, Prime's orders."

"Prime, what's the meaning of this?!"

"Forgive us, Agent Fowler. But we have reason to believe that Ms. Darby's safety will be at risk if you are allowed to leave the base." Optimus answered politely.

"W-What do mean 'at risk'?! I'm no more a threat to Ms. Darby than you are! Now let me go! Prime!"

Optimus ignored Fowler's angry yelling and walked over to June.

"Nurse Darby, I understand you have information that may help us to find Jackson. But Arcee informs me that you are afraid for the both of your safety if Agent Fowler is allowed to report back to his superiors. Rest assured that regardless of what he does after we locate Jackson, the both of you will remain under our protection. You have my word as a Prime."

June looked up at the gentle giant that was Optimus Prime. It was amazing how safe he could make her feel.

"Thank you, Optimus."

The whole team gathered around June, each looking to reassure her. Even Fowler had stopped fussing in Bulkhead's grasp, waiting to hear her story. June felt nervous, this being the first time she had to recall that nightmare in detail. She felt Miko take hold of her hand, smiling at her with confidence. June took a deep breath, and prepared to reveal the truth.

"It all happened six years ago, when me and Jack still lived in Raccoon City."

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 **Next chapter, Team Prime learns the truth. And yes, Jill will be showing up as well. One thing I always liked about Transformers Prime was the element of family. It really seemed more like they were one than just a team of robots and humans. I wanted to bring that element in this chapter where everyone is coming together to save Jack and try to reassure June. That little argument was meant to be like the one Bulkhead had with Ratchet during the Orion Pax Three Parter. Real eager to get started on the next one, so I'll try to get it up as soon as I can. Thanks for sticking with me so far.**

 **In relation to swimfeared: I get what your saying. But from what I gathered from Resident Evil canon, the government buried any connections they had with Umbrella when they were exposed. I don't think Jill or Chris were able to secure proof that they knew of just what Umbrella was doing. Now why Umbrella didn't rat them out just to drag them down, I don't know.**

 **And as always, we close this chapter with a George Carlin quote. Why?** _ **Beeeecccccaauuussse.**_

 **"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little."**


	8. Chapter 8

**Warning: This chapter contains exposition, lots of exposition**

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"Raccoon City?!" Rafael asked with disbelief, apparently knowing of the city and the controversy surrounding it.

Fowler immediately went stoic at the mention of the now destroyed city. Miko looked confused when she saw how Raf was so shocked to hear where June and Jack had previously resided.

"What's the big deal about them living in Raccoon City?"

"Miko, haven't you ever wondered why we have no school on the 1st of October? Six years ago, Raccoon City was completely destroyed."

Every being at the base except for June, Arcee, Fowler, and Optimus became shocked at Rafael's reveal. The Prime was aware of the city's destruction, having always kept himself well informed of this planet's current events. When he had learned of the catastrophe, he feared that the Decepticons were responsible. But Fowler had assured him that the disaster was the result of circumstances beyond their control and had nothing to do with them. Knowing that it was connected to June Darby's plight, Optimus began to suspect that he had given him false information.

"Well, what happened? Were the 'Cons behind it?" Bulkhead asked, still slightly in shock.

June was about to answer until she was interrupted by Fowler, still in the Bulkhead's grasp.

"No! The 'Cons had nothing to do with the destruction of Raccoon City." Fowler answered too quickly, earning him a distrustful look from both June and Arcee. "What caused that tragedy was nothing more than a series of unfortunate circumstances."

"Explain these circumstances, Agent Fowler?." Optimus Prime ordered, carrying a hint of distrust in his voice. Fowler had never told Optimus the specifics of the incident.

"Erm, ahem, alright. Raccoon City's destruction was the result of a nuclear meltdown of the city's power plant. We don't know what caused it, we just know that the plant became unstable and led to the city being destroyed. The ruins have been a bio-hazard area ever since."

Optimus felt that Fowler's answer was too practiced, too manufactured. It was clear that he was not telling the truth. June looked harshly at Fowler, making sure that Bulkhead had a tight grip on him.

"That's not what happened, Agent Fowler."

Her voiced carried a fair amount of anger in it, earning a surprised looked from everybody.

"Raccoon City wasn't destroyed in a meltdown, it was bombed."

Everyone, even Optimus became shocked to hear this. They all turned to Fowler, who put on his best 'damage control' face and attempted to brush the single mother's accusation off.

"Ms. Darby, regardless of what you might have read in the blogs of basement dwellers about ridiculous claims of a conspiracy cover up, I can assure you that..."

"I was there, Agent Fowler. I saw the missile hit from the escape chopper. The U.S. Government sanctioned the destruction of Raccoon City to contain the viral outbreak."

That caused the agent to shut his mouth. He seemed just as shocked as the rest of Team Prime.

"What do you mean 'viral outbreak'?" He asked with genuine ignorance of the situation.

June picked up on this and decided to figure out exactly how much he knew.

"You didn't know did you, why they ordered the missile strike? Do you even know about Umbrella?"

That only got a confused reaction from him.

"What about them? They were a great, big, powerful company that were brought up on charges for conducting illegal experiments. People went to jail and the company went bankrupt. What do _they_ have to do with this?"

June looked away from Fowler.

"Everything."

Arcee felt like she was missing something.

"Okay wait, let's start over from the beginning. What happened in Raccoon City six years ago?"

"The attacks in Arklay Mountains, that's what started it all."

Everyone paid close attention to June.

"In the outskirts of Raccoon City, people were disappearing in the forests that led to the mountains. Search parties turned up a few of them. All of them were found almost completely devoured ."

June paused to allow what she was saying sink into her listeners.

"Something was eating them?" Miko asked in an unusual frightened tone.

Junes sighed as she recollected reading about the story in the paper.

"People claimed to see strange animals lurking in the forest. The mountains were always covered in a thick fog. It was considered unsafe to go into the forests, even before the attacks. R.P.D. sent out two special units to investigate them, and what they found was...horrific. Umbrella had a testing facility hidden beneath this secluded mansion in the mountains. There, they conducted some of their illegal experiments. The creatures that were attacking people were test canines that had gotten out."

June could feel Miko's hand gripping tighter.

"I don't know what exactly happened in those mountains. I just know that the mansion and the lab were destroyed in an explosion, and only a handful of people from both units had escaped."

June took another look at Fowler. He seemed skeptical of her story, but also seemed to believe it to an extent.

"How exactly do _you_ know about any of this, Ms. Darby? I've read the file on the incident, and two of the survivors of that failed mission made all sorts of ridiculous claims about what happened. Both of them were discredited and subsequently fired from the R.P.D. when they almost started a citywide panic."

"One of those survivors helped me and Jack escape the city when it all went to hell. She told me about everything that happened before the outbreak." June responding louder than she meant to be.

Optimus stepped forward, eager the learn of reason that the city was destroyed.

"What exactly occurred after the incident, Nurse Darby, that you and Jack needed to escape the city?"

June braced herself. This is the part where things get hard to believe, even for Cybertronians. This is the part where she had to go back to the incident that almost broke her.

"I was working my shift at the hospital. I had Jack with me since I couldn't find a sitter for that day. My shift was almost over when we received several patients suffering from terrible bite wounds, wounds from other people. I ended up staying a few hours later while Jack waited for me in the lobby. After a while, the patients stopped responding to our questions. Eventually, they didn't seem to understand anything we were saying. We didn't know what was wrong with them until..."

Miko put her other hand on June's shoulder, encouraging her to continue. June could see that the story was unsettling her, however.

"They started attacking us, mindlessly. They got up and started trying to bite us wherever they could. I saw one of them tear Dr. O'Hara's face all the way down to her jaw bone."

June inhaled very sharply.

"People that I'd worked with for years were ripped apart right in front of me. Then they went for the other patients. Everything got out of control after that. The whole staff fled the hospital, and the patients kept attacking whoever they could get their hands on. By the time I was able to break away from the crowd, I was at the other end of the hospital. I had to get back to Jackson but when I found him, one of the patients was seconds away from attacking him. I just barely managed to get my son away from him..."

June took another deep breath.

"Jack's father was in Maryland at the time. When I couldn't get hold of him after we escaped the hospital, I knew something was wrong. Two doctors that I worked with told me that something was happening all over the city, and that I had to get out before it got worse. Traffic was packed for miles, and I couldn't get my car out of the parking lot. When I looked at the end of the street, I saw them...Fifty of them, at least, all coming down the street and attacking random people just like the patients. They weren't just biting them, they were tearing them limb from limb, adults, children...babies... _Oh my god_."

June buried her head in her hands when she remembered the infant that was torn apart by the horde. Miko had let go of her hand and was shaking visibly. June looked back up. Everyone was staring at her with a mix of worry and fear. Arcee's optics were as wide as they've ever been. She wanted to reassure June, but she found herself unable to move or speak. Bulkhead had placed Fowler back on the ground, who wasn't moving an inch.

"So um...did they have like...super mega rabies or something." Miko hesitantly asked.

"You guys are gonna think I'm insane...No Miko, not rabies. It's called the T-Virus. When a living organism is infected with it, it deteriorates the brain down to it's basic motor skills, the need to feed. If it infects a dead organism, it _reanimates_ it to it's basic motor skills. If someone is bit by an infected person, the virus spreads to him or her, and that's how the outbreak happened."

June once again paused to let her story sink in. The Autobots were trying to understand what she was saying, while the humans were either trying to do the same, or unable/unwilling to believe it. Miko was the first to speak up.

"Wait...Zombies?!"

Any other time, she would have sounded excited. When they were Cybertronian zombies, she _was_ excited. But this time, she sounded horrified. No one at base thought they would ever see Miko afraid of anything.

"Yes Miko, these creatures could've been considered zombies."

Team Prime couldn't believe what they had just heard, especially Fowler.

"Enough, Ms. Darby. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when you mentioned some kind of outbreak, but this is ridiculous. I mean, _zombies_? You can't really expect us to believe that can you?"

June lowered her head, thinking that everyone else was as skeptical as he was.

"And why do you believe that we do not, Agent Fowler?" Optimus spoke in her defense, looking none too happy about how Fowler was speaking to her.

"Prime, you can't be serious."

"You have read in the reports that I myself wrote for you about the Terrorcons, have you not? Megatron was able to reanimate the dead of our fallen comrades and enemies using dark energon. Is it truly impossible for you to believe that humans could create a virus that could achieve the same results?"

Fowler didn't have an answer for Optimus. June was shocked to hear that such a thing had happened to the Autobots as well. Maybe they did understand what she and Jack had been through.

"That's why Jack was so scared when he found out about the Terrorcons. In his mind, it was Raccoon City all over again." Raf said with realization.

And it made too much sense to everyone at the base. The incident clearly left emotional scars on his mother and most likely did the same to Jack. Arcee then came to another realization about her partner.

"So that scar on Jack's arm..."

Arcee looked to June, praying to Primus that she would contradict her. June gave her no such comfort. She only held her own arms tightly and shut her eyes.

"Yes...Jack was bitten by one of them."

Arcee slowly took several steps back, placing her servo over her mouth. The other Autobots reacted similarly. Optimus himself wore an expression that even Ratchet hadn't seen since he became a Prime. The three humans looked on with absolute horror.

"But...but people who get bit...t-they turn into zombies too...don't they?" Miko said with a voice weaker anyone thought they would hear from her.

June began to breath heavier as the memory played back in her head.

"I almost lost him...I"

Tears began streaming down her face she remembered her son's screaming as the zombie bit him.

"J-Jack...he almost became..."

Everyone grew more concerned as she was becoming more unstable.

"Ms. Darby?" Miko asked hesitantly

"June?" Arcee said as she walked back to her.

June had completely shut everything around her out. As she shook her head to stop the moment from replaying itself, she couldn't hear anyone calling her name. All she could think about was that day...that horrible day. And Jack was not there to snap her out of it. Thankfully, Optimus Prime was.

He walked over to June who was hunched over where she sat. He took her and lifted her up to his spark chamber.

"June."

His voice managed to reach her. He had never called her by her first name before. She looked up and saw the Prime's warm, blue optics staring down at her. She couldn't describe it, the feeling she had when he looked at her. But suddenly, she was able to stop shaking.

"Jackson did not become one of the creatures that you speak of. He is still with us, still our friend and ally, still your son. And he needs you. Please, continue your story, so that we may save him."

June wiped her face nodded to the Prime. She crawled closer to him, and rested her body against his spark chamber. The humming sound of his spark filled her with ease.

"You're right, he's still here. He's still my Jackson...all thanks to Jill."

 _ **"Jill, who's that?"**_ Bumblebee asked.

June didn't understand him, but was able to figure what he was asking.

"She found a hospital that Umbrella owned. They did experiments there...on their patients. I don't know how she found out about it, but she knew of a way to make a vaccine. We went there together to get one for Jack. We just barely made it...but we did it. She saved my boy...she saved me."

June was calm now, thinking about her son's savior.

"She was able to contact one of the other mansion survivors outside of the city. Barry Burton, I think his name was. He came to rescue us by chopper, got us out of the city. We were just far enough to escape the fallout when the missile hit...But it wasn't over."

June readjusted herself so that she was leaning her back against Prime. She looked down at her son's new friends, hoping that they could work with Jill to help get him back.

"Jill protected the both of us, even after we escaped the city. We met up with Jack's father, and relocated here in Jasper. Jill believed that someone in the government knew what Umbrella was doing, and that we wouldn't be safe until they were brought down. Jill was the one who exposed them, we thought they were gone. But we didn't talk about it to anyone just to be safe."

Fowler didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't deny June's reaction. She wasn't crazy or delusional. There was no way she could fake an emotional episode like that. Fowler had known about the missile strike on Raccoon City, but he didn't know why it happened. All his superiors had told him was that the rest of the world's safety was at risk. Fowler didn't like the decision one bit, but his unquestioning loyalty was always his weakness. Now he knew what they were trying to contain. For all he knew, they were in some way responsible for the outbreak. He had met many representatives of Umbrella during his career, each of them on a first name basis with someone high up in the political hierarchy. Knowing what he knew now, he felt sick to his stomach.

"I should've just joined the postal service." He said to himself as he ran his head through his hair.

"But why would Umbrella come after you and Jack?" Raf asked.

"To keep their secrets buried, Raf. Nobody knows _exactly_ what Umbrella was doing. But June and Jack know. They're loose ends that need to be tied as far as Umbrella's concerned." Fowler stepped forward to say.

"That's not all." June added.

"Primus, what _more_ horrors is this corporation responsible for?" Ratchet spoke out.

"Jill told me that the reason behind these experiments, the goal they're trying to accomplish is human enhancement."

"What do you mean 'human enhancement?'" Inquired Ratchet.

"The next stage in evolution, that's what they're working towards. At least, that's what Jill tells me...And Jack survived being infected. When they see the scar on his arm, they'll know that he was bit and didn't turn. They'll want to study him, do all sorts of experiments on him, inject him with the virus again to see how he reacts."

June was getting scared again, thinking about her son being butchered by Umbrella. All it took was the voice of Optimus to reassure her once more.

"That will not happen, Nurse Darby. We will locate where Umbrella has taken Jackson, and we will bring him home unharmed. By the Allspark, we will not fail him."

June looked at the Prime's determined face and was immediately filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry."

Optimus became confused.

"Why are you apologizing, Ms. Darby?"

"I had to...I had to tell her..."

The proximity alarm told everyone of an approaching vehicle.

"Optimus, we have an unknown vehicle waiting outside of our base." Ratchet alerted.

Optimus looked back at June, though not accusingly.

"I'm sorry, Optimus. I had to tell her about you."

Ratchet's eyes went wide.

"You told someone about our secret location?!"

"I had to do it. Jill is the only one who will know how to find Umbrella, how to find Jack."

Ratchet looked to Optimus for support of his protest. Optimus merely looked back to June.

"Ratchet, Jackson's safety is of greater concern than our secrecy. If this person can help us to rescue him, then I am authorizing her access to our base."

Ratchet didn't protest, despite his uncertainty.

"Whatever you say, Optimus. But I'm only doing this for Jack."

Ratchet punched in a few commands on the console, and the rest of the team waited for the vehicle to arrive. After a few moments, a beige military style jeep pulled into the main hall and stopped abruptly at the sight of the mechanical warriors. Both doors opened, and it's passengers exited with the look of shock on their faces. On the passenger side was a well built, scruffy, brown haired man in his late thirties wearing a green military shirt and tan military pants. The driver was a woman who looked about the same age. She kept her brown ponytail beneath a blue cap, and wore a blue long sleeve collared shirt with black pants. June recognized her immediately. Both of them looked up at the titans that stood before them, the male cautiously thumbing the gun at his side. The woman didn't seem alarmed so much as shocked. When she caught the sight of June Darby, her agape mouth formed a smile.

"June?"

June stood up in Optimus' servo, who lowered her to the ground. She stepped off and ran to Jill with a great big hug.

"Jill, I'm so glad you're here."

Jill returned the gesture, but found herself unable to look away from the red and blue giant who's hand June was just standing in.

"It's great to see you too, June, even under these circumstances. You've made some new friends since I've been away. So this is what you meant when you said we'd see some strange things."

June looked back to the Autobot's with a smile.

"Yeah, about that."

Optimus approached the two, making sure to look as nonthreatening as possible. He managed to accomplish that, though he also made Jill feel incredibly small.

"Greetings, I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. June has told us a great deal about you, and how you protected her and Jackson during the incident in Raccoon City."

Jill finally managed to collect herself to speak with some kind of professionalism.

"I suppose introductions are in order."

She motioned her companion, who was still cautiously waiting by the vehicle, to step forward. He walked slowly to her side, though he did remove his hand from his firearm.

"My name is Jill Valentine, and this is my partner and friend Chris Redfield. Both of us represent the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance. And as much as I'd like to know more about you and what you are exactly, a very good friend of mine is being held by some very dangerous people."

"As we have been told. Know that Jackson is very important to us, and that we wish for his safe return as you do. Our missions are one in the same, and it would only make sense that we work together to bring Jackson Darby home."

Jill was completely mesmerized by the way Optimus spoke, but kept herself in check.

"Of course, Optimus Prime. If June trust you, then we are more than willing to work with you."

"I am glad that we could reach an understanding. Tell me, Agent Valentine, what information do you have on Umbrella?"

Jill became determined, knowing that her little friend needed her.

"I know where to start looking, three locations where they could be keeping him."

"Then let us begin our rescue."

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Jack frantically looked around the dark chamber he was being kept in. Both his mind and his heart were going a mile a minute. His hands were cuffed behind the steel chair bolted to the ground that he was sitting in. When he had first come to, his initial thought was that M.E.C.H. had taken him again. But as time went by, he was beginning to doubt that. Why hadn't Silas interrogated him yet? And why were his soldiers wearing black instead of green? Was Airachnid working with them? And what about his mother, did they get her too?

All Jack could do was wait. The Autobots would surely come for him. Arcee was probably ready to storm the compound any minute. Thinking about her gave him a small comfort, even when he remembered their last conversation. Before he could go over that moment in the garage, the sound of a metal door opening caught his attention.

'That's not Silas.'

Tall, blonde, and creepy, that's all Jack could think of when he saw him. The mysterious man stood where he was, never taking his eyes off Jack. Minutes went by and the tall man was still staring, as if he was analysing Jack. More time passed with more of the same, and Jack was feeling very nervous about the situation. He tried looking in every direction except the door where the tall man was standing. Finally, the silence became too much for him.

"Who are you?"

The tall man finally moved from his spot and walked over to Jack. He stood over him, casting his intimidating presence. Once again, he was staring into Jack, as if trying to learn his secrets.

"Are you with M.E.C.H.?" Jack weakly asked.

Before he knew what hit him, a leather gloved hand took hold of Jackson's throat.

"M.E.C.H.? Do I look like a gearhead to you?"

His grip was tightening around Jack's neck, and he could feel his breath being squeezed out.

"Understand this, _boy_ , I have nothing to do with M.E.C.H. or that scarred fool Leland."

His fingertips were pressing into Jack painfully, he could feel his throat beginning to bruise.

"Oh wait, he goes by Silas now."

Jack's vision was getting blurry, and he could feel himself drifting away. Finally, the man released him. Jack choked on his own air as he tried to get some back into his lungs. The man's grip was like an iron vice, and Jack could still feel it painfully around his neck.

"Who are you then?"

Jacks voice was now hoarse from being strangled. The tall man had his back turned to Jackson.

"Silas...Silas, Silas, Silas...How do _you_ know of him?"

Jack tensed up, he had revealed too much.

"You see, Silas is only interested in one thing, technology. He desires the most advanced weaponry in the world so that he and his followers can try and overthrow world leadership. The only reason he would be interested in you is if you were somehow connected to something he wanted. But I doubt that's the case. So why?"

Jack looked down, hoping he could lie his way out of this.

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me, boy. You're going to be here for a while. There's much I can to do to you in that time."

"He's insane...that's all I can tell you."

"Silas is alot of things, but he is not insane. What does he know about you? Does he know about Raccoon City?"

Jack's whole body felt as if it had been shot through with electricity.

"Does he know about your blood, that you survived infection?"

No, it couldn't be. Jill had taken them all down, only remnants were left.

"Has he finally given up on getting his hands on the military's new toys and crossed over into my world?"

The color was rapidly leaving Jack's body, he didn't want to believe where he was.

"Tell me, boy, what makes you so special?"

Umbrella, they had taken him. And the Autobots had no idea that they existed. Why? Why didn't Jack just tell Arcee the truth?

"I'm waiting, Jackson Darby."

"...Where's my Mother?!"

The tall man smiled.

"Would you like to see her? You will, but what you see depends entirely on you. A beautiful middle aged woman, or whatever we wish to turn her into."

"Don't you touch her!"

"It's in your hands, Jackson. You can save your mother, or seal her fate."

Jack was silent.

"Have you ever read the story 'I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream'? What would you do if instead of seeing your mother, the lovely June Darby, you see a grotesque creature that bears no resemblance to the caring nurturer that you once knew? She won't know who you are. You'll just be a piece of meat for her to feed on, to spread her infection. Of course, we don't know how the minds of these creatures function. Perhaps in the deepest part of her own, June Darby will still exist. And as she tears out your insides, she will watch in horror. As she brutally rips apart the only family she has left, she will be aware. She wants to stop what she's doing, to cry out your name, but she has no mouth, and she must scream...Or maybe I could reverse that scenario, and have _you_ rip _her_ apart as you watch from your own mind."

Jack eyes were widened in absolute horror. This man knew how to paint a horrific picture. But Jack was not going to give him the satisfaction just yet.

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

"If you had her, you would've started this conversation with her. You would've threatened her before you threatened me."

The tall man began clapping his hands.

"Very clever, boy. You right, we do not have your mother. But that's going to change very soon. But enough about her, let's talk about you."

The tall man pulled up a chair that Jack didn't know was behind him. He sat with one leg over the other, his hands folded in his lap.

"Earlier, I mentioned your blood. Would you care for me to elaborate?"

Jack didn't respond. He could swear that there was something red glowing beneath the man's shades.

"I know you've been bit, I've seen the scar on your arm. I must commend you, by the way. Six years ago would've left you a ten year old during the outbreak. I imagine it must've been a painful injury. Too often I see adult men and woman die from shock due to the pain before the virus turns them. You managed to pull yourself through it when you were only a child. Bravo, Jackson, bravo. So, Jill Valentine was able to synthesize a T-Vaccine for you."

Jack tensed up again.

"Don't be so surprised, boy. I've known about her since the Arklay Facility incident. She and Chris are beginning to get under my skin."

The tall man reached into his coat, and pulled something that Jack recognized.

"I assume that she left this with you, just in case you and your mother found yourselves in the same situation. I'm sure she believes that this is how she prevented you from becoming one of those mindless flesh eaters."

He placed the vaccine on a tray by his seat.

"But what she doesn't know, what we didn't know at the time, was that the vaccine was a failure."

Jack became completely still, his breath taken away from him.

"what?" He said just above a whisper.

"It was still in it's testing phase when the outbreak occurred. Once Raccoon City was neutralized, we continued our research into it. Trials conducted on animals such as mice and rabbits appeared promising. But human trials were...disappointing. The vaccine proved to be ineffective at destroying the virus and stopping the infection of a human host. To put it simply, it doesn't work."

He stood up and walked to Jackson.

"So you understand that I find it interesting to say to the least, that after six years of coming in contact with the virus, you show no visible signs of mutation. Your blood, however, tells a very different story."

Finally getting his voice back, Jack manages the strength to speak.

"What about my blood?"

Jack wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"You're still carrying the virus."

Jack inhaled sharply and started to breathe heavily.

"It's still in you, boy, or at least some form of it. Your DNA has altered it somewhat. I'm not sure how, but I suspect that your body managed to neutralize it's mutative property. You didn't cure it, but you stopped it. I intend to see what else you're DNA can do."

Jack was still taking panicked breaths.

"That's wrong, this is a mistake. The vaccine is what cured me."

"I'm a scientist, boy. I know my research." He said while removing some things from his coat and placing them onto the tray.

"But I almost turned, I got feverish. I was about to die when they gave me the vaccine. _It_ stopped the virus, not me!"

The tall man stopped what he was doing for a second.

"Hm, that very interesting. I'm going to have to look into that with the sample I take."

Jack looked at the tall man with his back to him.

"But you already took my blood."

"Yes."

He turned around to face Jack, a scalpel in his hand so polished, it was almost glowing.

"But I'm going to need a more _solid_ sample of your DNA."

He walked over to Jack and grabbed the back of his head. He painfully yanked it back and brought the scalpel to his face.

"No, please."

"Don't beg, Jackson. You survived a bite from an infected. This isn't going to kill you."

From outside the chamber, two guards stood in silence as Jackson's agonizing scream was heard from the other side of the door. They showed now signs of concern, only silently thanking whatever cosmic force controls the universe that it was not them alone in that room with Wesker.

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 **Oh, I'm a horrible person.**  
 **Well, it seems I am now walking down the path that so many before me have gone. I am now a sworn member of the "Jackson Darby Abuse Society". God have mercy of my soul.**

 **Well, the Bots know the deal. Jill and Chris are now part of the team. Jack, poor, poor, Jack. So I'm not too thrilled with the first part of this chapter, but I have a hard time figuring out what I should've done different. I felt like the exposition was necessary, but the way I wrote it feels a bit much. Maybe it's because I didn't really reveal much that I haven't covered already. I don't know. And Jack, well we know what's up with him now. The question is, what did Wesker do to him? Oh yeah, I was really confused about how the first Resident Evil game's story began. The 1996 version said that the investigation was started when families were being attacked by groups of about ten people, which were actually zombies. The 2002 remake said it was the cerberus dogs that attacked people in the forests. I ended up going with the remake.**

 **Next chapter, Team Prime and the BSAA mount a rescue. And because I have an obsession...**

 **"The reason I talk to myself is because I'm the only one whose answers I accept."**

 **I have a problem.**


	9. Chapter 9

_"Arcee, I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry for your loss."_

 _"What could you possibly know about loss?"_

 _"What, you think you're the only one with problems?"_

 _"I'm not sure girl trouble counts."_

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How Arcee wished she could take that back. Jack, being the kind and respectful person that he was, offered his sympathy to her knowing that she was mourning Cliffjumper's death. And she threw it right back in his face. He acted mildly offended and she felt a spark of guilt the next morning. She started being friendlier to Jack, even though she still wasn't happy with the arrangement that Optimus had set up. Over time, the two became closer and their little exchange was forgotten. But that didn't change the fact that he knew enough about loss, about pain, about fear. He and June went through what humans would call "Hell on Earth" together and the trauma was still there as she saw from June's near breakdown. All this time, Jack was living with this trauma and hid it from all of them. The threat of the Terrorcons had to be his worst nightmare come back to reality.

And the nightmare itself, Arcee never thought that something so nonthreatening to her could make her afraid. Just like what Megatron did with dark energon, deceased human rose from the dead. Living people decayed into living corpses, and they fed on whoever remained. The way June described it, zombies ripped people open and gorged themselves on their entrails. Those who weren't fortunate enough to die became one of them, even from a single bite. Arcee was thankful she could not purge her inner systems of energon as humans did with food, it seemed really tempting to do so. What Arcee learned from June was indeed Hell on Earth, and Jack had witnessed it all as a child. He was only a kid when he saw his home be destroyed and people he knew become something horrific. He was bit by one of them, he almost became one of them. She grasped her helm at the thought of it, of seeing Jack become a mindless monster just like Cliffjumper, not recognizing who she was, not knowing who _he_ was. She shook her helm desperately to drive away the image, to not think about losing her partner. She couldn't let herself imagine June and Jill not getting the vaccine in time, of Umbrella experimenting on him, of becoming Primus knows what. She couldn't think about Jack not being Jack anymore. But no matter how much she shook her helm, the worst was projecting itself in her processors and she couldn't stop it.

"What's wrong, Arcee?"

Arcee looked up and saw a very concerned Ratchet standing over.

"Are you in pain?"

Arcee managed to calm herself, Ratchet's face providing something else to focus on. She stood up and looked around the corridor she sat in.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up at Ratchet, fully aware of how she herself looked.

"No." She said weakly.

Ratchet remained silent, understanding Arcee's state of mind.

"Agent Redfield is briefing us on possible Umbrella locations. Your presence is needed."

"Ratchet?"

"Yes?"

"...I know you don't know much about the human body...but with their help, do you think...you can fix whatever they do to Jack?"

Ratchet looked away which didn't fill Arcee with any comfort.

"I...don't know, Arcee."

Her spark felt a sharp pain go through it and she took a breath she did not need.

" _But_...that will not stop me from trying with every ounce of my spark. But we need to find Jack before we can help him. And the sooner we do, the less time they have to _alter_ him. Now come on, the others are waiting."

Ratchet took his leave, but Arcee stayed where she was for a minute longer.

'Please be okay, Jack.' She thought to herself as she followed behind the medic.

It was such a small hope, but she clung to it nonetheless. Was this what it was like for June, when she found out about the vaccine that saved Jack?

They entered the main hall together. Optimus Prime was standing by the controls of the groundbridge, Chris Redfield by the hangar beside him. June was by the rails of the living area standing next to Jill Valentine. Miko stood by them, holding Raf close to her. Both of them were afraid, anyone could tell as much.

"Autobots, the life of one of our allies and friends hangs in the balance. Jackson faces a fate worse than death. Umbrella is unlike any enemy we have faced before. Agent Redfield informs me that they possess biological organic weapons at their disposal far more dangerous than we have come to learn about. All of you are to use caution when engaging these creatures. Do not underestimate them simply because they are organic. Avoid combat with these creatures if at all possible, as locating Jack is our main priority. Umbrella cannot be allowed to escape with him under any circumstances. Agent Redfield, if you please?"

"Listen closely, the B.S.A.A. has been sitting on intel of three major facilities operating under Umbrella. Because we have no idea of what kind of opposition we stand to face, we've never been able to mount an offensive. We have no idea of how many men they have guarding these facilities, or what kind of monsters they have in cold storage. Make no mistake, if they get desperate, they will release them to deal with any intruder. But this _is_ a desperate situation and I'm hopin' you all can provide the necessary firepower to break through their defenses."

"Fraggin' right we can!" Bulkhead claimed while slamming his fist together.

"I'm countin' on it big guy. Like the 'Bot in charge says, the kid's life is a priority. I want you to know that me and Jill share that same sentiment. We ain't comin' back until we find him or know _where_ to find him. We can worry about takin' them down later."

The Autobots stood at attention, fully prepared to embark on their mission. Chris inserted a flash drive into the human console and brought up an image on the monitors.

"The first facility is located in north-central Yemen, and it's the most heavily guarded out of all of them. I've got some experience in that part of the world so I'll be takin' that one on."

"If you stand to face heavy opposition, then you will need suitable protection. My alt form will provide you with the necessary cover to infiltrate their base." Optimus offered.

"If you think that's the smart move, Optimus."

"I do."

"Alright, then it's you and me in the desert. Second facility is hidden beneath Tokyo. Jill, you already know the one I'm referring to."

"Gotcha Chris, Land of The Rising Sun is all me."

Arcee stepped forward.

"I'll go with Jill."

Optimus was curious.

"Tokyo's a crowded place, gonna be hard to move around in. I'll move faster through the masses with my alt form."

Miko let go of Raf and leaned over the railing.

"Just remember Arcee, we drive on the left side of the road in Japan."

"Good to know, Miko."

"Very well, Arcee." Optimus said in agreement.

Chris and Jill were getting increasingly confused by what the Autobots were referring to when they spoke of their "alt modes".

"I guess that leaves you three, Big Green, Doc 'Bot, and Pittsburgh Steelers."

Bumblebee gave confused set of beeps when Chris referred to him.

"The last facility is hidden beneath Belfast in Northern Ireland. You'll have to find the entrance in the Mourne Mountains. It'll be a cave deep in the most northern part of it. Now you guys don't have human back up to help you navigate, so if you gotta knock down a few walls, do what you gotta do. Trust me, the structural integrity will hold itself up."

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee, you two will embark of this quest together." Optimus ordered

"Gotcha' Optimus."

 _ **"You can count on us."**_

"Ratchet will remain here and ready the med bay for Jack's arrival."

"Understood sir, and if I may make a suggestion to Agent Redfield and Agent Valentine."

Both turned their attention to the medic.

"If possible, I ask that you obtain two samples of the vaccine that you administered to Jack to stop the infection. One for in case he has become infected once again, the other for me to study and possibly replicate."

Ratchet looked to Arcee, who looked ever so grateful to him. She mouthed the words "thank you", which he replied with a nod.

"Good idea, old friend. You all have your coordinates, Jackson is counting on us. Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!"

The Autobot, safe for Arcee, took their vehicle modes which was a shock to both Jill and Chris.

"Whoah, they can do that?" Jill asked June.

"Incredible, isn't it?" June replied.

June looked at Jill with hopeful worry. Jill took both of her hands.

"I'm bringing him home, June. I made you a promise."

June hugged Jill which was returned graciously.

"Be careful."

Jill pulled away and walked down to the ground level. June, now accompanied by Miko and Raf, looked over the rails at Arcee. She held a fierce and determined look in her optics as she smiled at the three of them. June returned the smile as she held Raf's head close to side. Chris climbed inside of Optimus just as the first groundbridge opened. Both Chris and Jill stopped in their tracks at the sight of it.

"Do not be worried, Agent Redfield. It is actually much safer than flying."

"If you say so, Prime."

The pair went through and the bridge closed. Jill walked over to Arcee, who took her alt form.

"Hop on."

Jill got on top of Arcee, fastening the bag of weapons on her back.

"June tells me that you and Jack are partners."

"She told you right. We've been through alot together."

Jill took hold of Arcee's handlebars.

"Thanks for looking after my little guy."

Arcee adjusted her mirrors and saw that the thanks was genuine. This woman clearly cared for Jack a great deal.

"Thanks for saving him in Raccoon City."

"Thank me after we bring him home. Then we can take down Umbrella, deal?"

"Deal."

Bulkhead and Bumblebee had already left for their assigned designation. Ratchet opened up the final bridge for Jill and Arcee.

'Just hang on, partner. I'm coming to get you.'

With that, the three of them drove through the vortex and embarked on their mission to rescue Jack.

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Jill and Arcee sped through the streets of Tokyo, weaving through traffic. Jill gripped Arcee's bars tightly and wondered how the hell her cap hadn't flown off yet. Arcee was fast, she couldn't deny that. If Jack's life wasn't in danger, she might have found the ride exhilarating. But she was on a mission and she never gave any of them anything less then her all. She ignored all the obvious thoughts going through her head. What have they done Jackson? How did they find him? Why didn't they go after June? She also ignored everything about the Autobots for the time being. June was gonna have alot of explaining to do when they brought her son home. Still, she was glad that they were on their side, and she was glad to be partnered up with this one in particular. Arcee seemed about as driven to find Jack as she was. With that knowledge alone, she knew she could trust her.

Arcee tried to remain focused on the mission, but the sights were far too distracting. She had never been to Tokyo before. She had heard about it from Miko, and it lived up to her enthusiasm when she talked about it. The city was so colorful and fast paced, it was almost like a human version of Iacon. And of course, she took notice of all the motorcycles that she was riding past. They weren't as fast as her, but they were beautiful nonetheless. One might accuse her of not taking Jack's kidnapping seriously enough. In truth, this was how she was coping with it. When she first rode through the groundbridge and saw this vibrant city, her first thought was wishing that Jack was there with her. He would've loved Tokyo at first sight and she wanted to share it with him. Rather than allow that wish to diminish her hope, she used it as motivation to bring him back. She was gonna rescue Jack, and they were gonna take a real tour of this city. They might even break the rules and challenge a few bikers to a race. Jack was still a kid and should be having the time of his life, not constantly afraid of being turned into Umbrella's cruel science project. Once they were taken down, they were gonna do all that and more. She was gonna take Jack around the world and make sure he lived his life to the fullest without fear. He deserved to be happy, to be free. She needed to set him free by destroying Umbrella.

They drove down to the quieter parts of the city. As the energy died down, they ended up in what looked to be a slum. Remembering that this was where the tunnel to the facility was hidden, Jill directed Arcee to what appeared to be an abandoned subway entrance. They pulled into the subway, riding down the staircase. When they reached the bottom, Jill dismounted Arcee and pulled off the bag from her back to remove it's contents. She pulled out a black tactical vest and wore it over her clothes. She also took out a Remington 870 shotgun, an MP5/40 smg, and an MGL Mk 1S grenade launcher. She double checked the ammo on all three as well as her Sig P220. She stocked up on spare rounds and mags, placing then in various pockets of her vest and pouches on her belt.

"That bulky one, I can carry that in my subspace." Arcee offered.

Jill looked confused, but handed her the weapon regardless as well as her spare rounds.

"Don't mean to make you my pack mule."

"If it's to save Jack, I'll carry toxic waste if I have to."

Arcee stored them in her subspace which earned her an appreciative and intrigued look from Jill. Locked and loaded, Arcee took her alt form. Jill mounted the seat and the two of them took off for the base's entrance.

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Chris was loading up his arsenal inside of Optimus' cabin, trying to make sense of what was going on. He was about to storm one of the most heavily guarded Umbrella sites, riding inside of a sentient big rig that could transform into an alien robot. Then again, living in a world where man can create a virus that turns people into monsters is madness by itself. At least Optimus seemed like one of the good guys. If anything, he was more humane than most humans he'd met. One thing he knew for certain, Claire wouldn't believe him for a second.

"Agent Redfield, we are approaching our designation."

Chris saw the messa coming up.

"You sure bullets can't hurt you, Prime?"

"You needn't worry about me. But if we are to to come under heavy fire, I would advise you remain inside until necessary."

As he said that, the two of them drove through the cave entrance. Within seconds, Optimus Prime was being shot at from all sides.

"Can't argue with you there, buddy."

Optimus drove through the cave as the gunfire grew heavier. Armed with his FN SCAR-H fitted with a launcher attachment, Chris was ready to make the jump out. He looked out of Optimus' window and saw an oncoming rpg. He held his breath as the rocket exploded against the driver's side of the cabin. Optimus grunted in pain from the impact, but to Chris' shock and awe, it hadn't damaged him in the slightest.

"You alright, Optimus?"

"I am not harmed. Though, I appreciate your concern."

Chris took a moment to catch his breath.

"Got any family, big guy?"

"Only my fellow Autobots as well as our human companions."

"I got a sister named Claire, she was all I had for a big part of my life. I've got Jill, who's my partner 'till the end, a good friend named Barry, he's been through the same hell we've been through, and I got my men. I'll die for any one of them if I have to."

"As would I, Agent Redfield."

"That's good cuz I don't like workin' with somebody who's got nuthin' to lose. We both got people we care about. Let's make it back to them, yeah?"

"Spoken like Prime, Agent Redfield."

Optimus came to a stop at a set of large metal doors. He was still being fired upon from numerous gunmen. He transformed with Chris in his servo and the gunfire stopped almost immediately. No doubt they were awestruck but what they were seeing. Ignoring whatever was going on behind him, Optimus forced the doors opened with one servo. Once they were big enough for Chris to fit through, Optimus lowered him enough to still be covered from fire and to be able to land safely.

"Go, Agent Redfield. I will follow you shortly."

"Don't forget your team, Prime."

"Nor you, my friend."

Chris ran through the door as Optimus stood in place to provide cover. He looked back at the black clad soldiers and shifted his servos to his blasters.

"I will not take your lives, but you will not stop us from saving Jackson."

Optimus began firing at the ceiling and walls, creating cloud of dirt to obscure the soldier's view. For now, he was willing to uphold his code to never take human lives. But as long as Jack was in danger, he wondered how long he would be able to.

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Arcee and Jill stood on either side of the metal door deep within the abandoned tunnels. Having engaged Umbrella security already, the door was sealed shut and the base put on high alert.

"Guess stealth is off the table." Arcee said.

"My grenade launcher isn't gonna take down this door. This is one lock I'm not gonna be able to pick."

"Who needs a lock pick when you got me?"

Arcee shifted her servo into a blaster to Jill's surprise.

"You are every ten year old boy's dream."

"Really hope you mean one type of dream and not the other. Stand back."

Arcee took aim as Jill cleared the area. With one blast, the door was blown away. But with it's destruction came a hail storm of bullets.

"Give me a click."

Arcee ran through the door and straight into the guardsmen. The bullets bounced off of her frame harmlessly as she swatted them to the side. With an opening clear for her, Jill ran through and began firing upon any Umbrella agent not engaging the robotic warrior. Arcee continued to draw most of their fire as Jill took down those who fired from a distance. Arcee managed to pin one against the wall.

"Where. is. Jack?"

"I don't know who that is."

"Listen to me little man, I'm in no mood. Point me in the direction that Jack is being held before I do something that gets me kicked off the team!"

The guard looked at her fearfully before putting his gun to his head and pulling the trigger. Blood splattered on Arcee's face, causing her to drop his limp body. Jill walked up to her, keeping an eye on the corridor.

"Failing Umbrella gets them put in front of a firing squad. Betraying Umbrella gets them strapped down and injected with one of their viruses. This guy took the only out he saw."

Arcee looked down the long corridor, seeing several soldiers taking position further down with her enhanced optics.

"What if he was telling the truth? What if Jack isn't here?"

"He might not be, but until we know for sure where he is, I'm not going back to the surface. I don't think you are either."

The determined look returned to her optics.

"Like the pit I will."

"Don't know what that means, but I'll just assume your still in."

"Yes, I am. Let's go find my partner."

Arcee took her alt form again and drove with Jill down the hall.

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* Other languages will be in []*

The supervisor of the facility watched as the intruders wreaked havoc on his base on the security monitors. One of them he recognized as Jill Valentine. The other appeared to be a robotic soldier.

["What am I seeing, Shinoda?"] He asked one of the surveillance officers.

["It looks to be some kind of robot."]

["The B.S.A.A. are trying new things. Do you recognize the woman?"]

The officer looked closer at the monitor.

["Sir, that's Agent Jill Valentine."]

["One of two targets at the top Umbrella's high priority list. We cannot allow her to leave this facility alive. Let her reach the research sector, then seal off the entrance. Then I want you to release the test subjects on that floor."]

["But sir, our men are still up there."]

["If Jill Valentine is allowed to accomplish whatever mission she came to do, you can expect that Wesker will make us his next project. I hope that your consideration for their lives will bring you comfort when he turns you into a feral beast."]

The officer had protested no more and readied the command to lockdown the facility. They continued to watch as Arcee and Jill made it closer to the research sector.

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Albert Wesker watched the monitors, trying to make sense of what he was looking at. Two gigantic, robotic beings with the ability to transform into vehicles were making a mess of his base. They drove through entrance security and were currently making short work of the facility's defense. Wesker wasn't sure what to make of these beings, except that were causing trouble. One of them took hold of a security officer and held him to it's face. Wesker switched the audio of the monitor on to hear what it was saying.

 _"You got one of my friends here, a kid by the name of Jack Darby. If you don't tell me where he is, I'm gonna step on you like you were a rusted Mini-con!"_

The officer wasted no time in putting a bullet in his own head, a wise decision. The two continued to push soldiers out of the way and make it further into the facility. They were here for Jack.

"I didn't expect this kind of response from the B.S.A.A. Secure Jackson Darby along with the sample, then ready the escape train. Wait for them to reach level 5, then release the T-113. It should at least hold them back until we leave the base."

"Sir."

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Bulkhead and Bumblebee managed to corner one of Umbrella's officers. He had lost both his rifle and his knife during the chaos. Now he was at the mercy of the two unforgiving Autobots.

"Tell us where Jack is!"

"What the hell are you?!"

"Friends of the kid you got locked away somewhere. Either hand'em over, or learn why everyone fears the Wreckers."

The officer was clearly afraid for his life, but he said nothing.

"Tough guy, eh? 'Bee!"

Bumblebee took the officer in his servos and gripped tight enough to cause some discomfort. Bumblebee beeped and whirred something to the officer, but he couldn't understand him.

"What?!"

"Bee's got a little friend back home who looks up to Jack like a brother. If he doesn't bring'em back, his little friends gonna be real upset. 'Bee would rather eat you alive than to see his buddy cry. You gonna make him do that? Huh, tiny?! Where's Jack?!"

"Kill me you damned...whatever you are! You'd be doin' me a favor!"

Bulk and Bee didn't know how to respond to that. They didn't expect for him to call their bluff.

"You think I won't, fleshy?!"

"Whatever you do to me won't be anything compared to what Wesker'll do! So go'head, throw me against the wall, crush me right in your hands! Do it you motherfu..."

Suddenly the alarm sounded.

 **Attention, Lockdown In Progress. Attention, Lockdown In Progress**.

The officer went white as a ghost. A lockdown could only mean one thing. While listening to the alarm, Bumblebee had let his grip loosen just enough for the officer to slip free. Once he hit the ground, he took off running down the dark hall.

 **"Scrap!"**

Before the pair could chase after him, they heard the sound of a body being smashed against something hard. Soon, they heard foot steps, heavier than what a human should sound like. From the darkness, something monstrous emerged. It was as gray of one of Jack's shirts and taller than any human they had ever seen. It was clad in a thick, dark green, leather coat that went down to it's ankles. It's neck and chest were fastened with a metal collar of some kind and it wore a pair steel plated gloves. It wasn't nearly as big as the two Autobots, not even as big as Arcee. The way it looked though, it's emotionless stare, was unsettling to the Wrecker and the scout.

 **"Bulk, what is that thing?"** Bumblebee asked nervously.

"It ain't human, so we don't have play nice with it."

Bulkhead shifted his hand into a blaster and fired directly at it. It moved out of the way of the energon blast and ran straight for them. Bulkhead and Bumblebee opened fire on it but it moved in between their blasts. Without warning, the creature leapt high into the air, all the way to optic level, and grabbed onto Bumblebee's chest plates. It yanked the scout down to the ground, then smashed it's locked hands onto his helm. Bulkhead armed his mace and brought it down on the being. It did not move, only lifting it's arms up and stopping the mace with it's bare hands. Bulkhead had only managed to dent the floor beneath him. He stared at this human looking creature in absolute shock. Was this one of Umbrella's experiments? The being ran out from under the mace and jumped into Bulkheads upper chassis. It slammed it's fist dead center, which threw Bulkhead against the wall. It landed by his pede and took hold of it. Giving it a good yank, Bulkhead was pulled to the ground and onto his back. Before he could realize what was happening, the being landed on his chassis again and stomped it's foot with enough force to dent his frame.

"Argh! You're gonna pay for that you...What are you, anyway?!"

The being said nothing as it prepared to jump on Bulkheads face to do more damage. Before it could, Bumblebee came from behind and smacked it right off of him. It flew far back a distance and hit the ground with enough force to have killed a human. But to Bumblebee's horror, it slowly recovered, seemingly unfazed by the attack. Wasting no time, he blasted it and hit it dead on. The energon blast consumed it and released a cloud of blue smoke in it's wake. Bumblebee slowly lowered his weapon, then shifted it back to help Bulkhead.

 **"You alright, Bulkhead?"**

"Yeah, feels like I got hit by Megatron, but I'm solid."

Bulkhead looked at the smoke obscured spot where the monster stood.

"Just what the frag was that thing?! Is that what Umbrella calls human enhancement?!"

 **"We have to find Jack! We can't let them turn him into one of those 'things'!"**

"If that thing was ever human to begin with, you mean. June didn't mention anything like that."

Bulkhead got back on his pedes. He and Bumblebee were about to keep moving when they heard the same footsteps again. From the smoke, it emerged once more. It's coat was singed a bit, but it was otherwise unharmed.

"What in the name of Primus?!"

The creature stared them down as they took there fighting stances.

"I don't care what you are. You're standing in my way and I'm gonna run you down!"

Bulkhead took to his SUV alt and drove straight for the creature. The creature went to meet him head on. Bulkhead sped up and slammed right into it, carrying it on his grill.

"Howdya like that, ya freak!"

The being gripped Bulkhead's sides and dug it's heavy boots into the ground. He came to a grinding halt when suddenly, Bulkhead felt himself being lifted up. The creature lifted him enough to put his tail light in the air and then slammed him painfully back onto the ground. Bulkhead was left disoriented. The creature then began wailing on his hood. Bulkhead finally shifted back to his bipedal form, falling on his aft in the process. He scooted back to Bumblebee who was stiff with horror at what was going on.

"That thing's a monster!"

The creature began walking towards the two slowly. Bumblebee shifted both servos into blasters.

 **"And we have to stop it."**

Bulkhead managed to recollect himself and followed suit. They aimed their weapons, prepared to blast on the creature to the pit.

"Fraggin' right we do!"

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It puzzled Optimus as to why the underground facility was so spacious that he was able to move around freely. No point in worrying about that now, a member of his family was in need. Optimus continued to provide cover fire for Chris as he knocked soldiers out of his path. Despite the things he had heard about this group, he was still a Prime and still valued human life. Of course, he wasn't considering the possibly that Jackson, as he remembered him, may very well be lost, or what he would do if that was the case. He had to remain optimistic for his sake. Optimus blasted upon the area surrounding the attacking soldiers, forcing them to cease their fire. This allowed Chris to move forward to the next area.

The B.S.A.A. agent had no qualms with shooting them down, nor should he. He had seen what these men were protecting, what their superiors were capable of. The Prime felt a way about taking human life and was taking care not to do so. If he felt that these lives were not his to take, Chris would not argue. So long as he gave him an open path to the kid, he would respect his decision. They came to another set of steel doors. Optimus attempted to force them open as he did before. As he cracked it wide enough for Chris to squeeze through, he felt the force of several explosive projectiles against his back. The impact throw him against the door. It may not have cause any serious damage, but it was still painful enough to throw off his senses.

"Prime, are you alright?!" Chris shouted threw the opening.

"Do not worry about me, Agent Redfield!"

Before he could tell Chris to keep moving forward, he was bombarded again with more rockets. They may not have been on the level of the Decepticon's arsenal, but the magnitude of them were causing a great deal of pain to the Prime.

"Optimus!"

"Go, Agent Redfield! Find Jackson!" He said with a strained voice.

"Not leavin' you behind big guy, just hold on!"

As the rockets continued to shower Optimus, he felt himself being brought to his knees. For a moment, he forgot that he was Earth and thought that he was back on Cybertron during the war. He was back in Kaon, engaging Megatron's forces and fighting for his life. Without realizing what he was doing, Optimus spun around with both blasters, and fired three shots in the direction of his attackers. The missile had stopped as the smoke filled the facility.

Chris managed to override the door controls on his side and open them for Optimus. When he did, a cloud of smoke poured into the large circular room. He coughed as he waved the smoke away from his face.

"Prime?!" He shouted with concern.

He peeked out and saw the red and blue Autobot standing as still as a statue. His back was blackened from rpg fire, even one of his smokestacks was missing.

"Optimus."

When he walked over, he saw that Optimus held a look of horror on his face. He turned to where he was looking and saw a large platform had crashed on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he saw several soldiers lying dead beneath the wreck.

"What have I done?" He asked in disbelief.

"Optimus..."

"I took an oath. I swore never to take the life of a human."

"I'm sorry Optimus, that you had to break your oath. But these guys were gonna kill you."

Optimus looked down and shut his optics.

"No, they could not extinguish my spark with their weapons, only cause minimal harm."

"They don't deserve your mercy, Optimus."

He was right, but that gave Optimus no comfort. He could've calculated his fire to disorient them enough to get through the door or force them to retreat. Despite who they were, it was not his place to pass final judgement. Optimus felt that he dishonored himself, but he would have to put that aside for now. He was not going to fail Jackson.

"Let us keep moving, Agent Redfield."

Optimus and Chris walked back into the empty room that led to nowhere. The room was massive, big enough to fit several Autobots in. At the center was a control console. Chris walked over and began inputting commands. Suddenly, the ground shifted and began descending to the lower levels of the facility. Chris walked over to Optimus, who still looked regretful for his actions.

"I don't know what a Prime is, but it sounds like something to hold in the highest regard. Whoever gave you that title, I'm sure he'd understand the action you took."

Optimus remained silent. The platform then came to much larger area which left a wide gap between it and the walls. It stopped at a large walkway big enough for Optimus to be able to walk on. But both Chris and Optimus were focusing on what lined the walls of the room from top to bottom. Pods, thousands of them all in rows, each with an unconscious human inside of them. Optimus could see that they were being kept in cryostasis with his enhanced optics. The sheer numbers of them stole all manner of thought from the Prime.

"What is this?"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess, I'd say they're test subjects."

Optimus' optics went wide. So many humans kept in cold storage to be experimented on?

"Is...is Jackson among them?"

"Hold on, let me check."

Chris walked over to the console and input Jackson Darby's name into the search engine. It turned up two matches, which caused Chris to tense up. Thankfully, they were two adult males, one of them elderly, that came up.

"Our kid's not one of them."

Optimus silently thanked Primus that Jackson was not one these souls frozen in slumber.

"Can we release them without harming them?"

"No, we can't...These people have all been infected."

The Prime quickly turned around to look at Chris. His blue optics appeared more icy than electric.

"Can we administer a vaccine?"

"It's too late for that, Optimus. They may not look it, but the infection has already taken control of them. If we release them now, the mutations gonna start the second they hit the open air. None of them were injected with the T-Virus neither. They've been given one of over a dozen other experimental viruses. I have no idea what they might turn into."

"Why? Why are they being kept like this?"

"Warehousing."

"What?" He asked through clenched teeth beneath his mouthplate.

"Until they can find a use for them, they're being kept on ice."

Optimus turned back to the sight before him.

"Is this what they intend to do to Jackson?"

Optimus was a sworn protector of humanity and these souls fell under that umbrella...Umbrella...they did this. Whoever these people were, whatever some of them might have done, they did not deserve this. Optimus may have taken an oath, but he was not going to let his personal code allow Jack or anyone else to suffer the same fate. He shifted his servos to blasters and took aim at all of the pods.

"Forgive me."

Optimus opened fire on the pods, destroying the souls trapped within. Each death caused his spark to go static with guilt. But he could not allow these people to remain imprisoned in their own bodies. Chris looked on with pity. From what little he could see on Optimus' face, pain was most evident. It was clear that he hated what he was forcing himself to do, but Chris understood the reason behind it. Finally, the walls were cleared of all pods and test subjects. Optimus shifted his blasters back into to servos. He bowed his head and gave silent parting to those who were just killed.

"Optimus."

"Agent Redfield, I cannot allow this fate to befall Jackson."

"Then we have to keep moving."

Optimus and Chris continued down the path to find Jack. As he left the destroyed room behind him, Optimus took another vow. Umbrella would never bring harm to humanity again, even if he had to break his vow to do so.

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 **Okay, alot to talk about in this one. First off, sorry for the wait. Unfortunately, work is gonna keep me from putting these up as quickly as usually do. But I am not going on hiatus like I'm writing for Cartoon Network.**

 **Soooooo, lets talk about Optimus. Yeah, I've got him doing something he probably wouldn't do outside of the Michael Bay films. I'm not sure if he ever really took an oath to never kill any humans in any of the Transformers works, but I do believe I've heard something along those lines. I don't know how I feel about him suddenly having a flashback of Cybertron during the war and reacting accordingly. He seems like the type of character that wouldn't succumb to that, but I wrote myself in a corner and came up with that. As for his mercy killings and his decision to break his code, hear me out. I think that he would see the infected humans eternal prisoners. Just like he and Ratchet killed plenty of Autobots when Megatron brought them back as Terrorcons, I imagine he would do the same for humans becoming B.O.W.s of Umbrella. As for him willing to kill to stop Umbrella, I had a hard time coming to that decision. But as a protector of Earth, he has to see the threat that Umbrella poses on a global scale. If it came down to it, I can't see Optimus not killing Wesker if it would directly stop whatever Umbrella could be doing. Let me know what you think.**

 **Also, if the locations of the facilities don't make any sense to people who didn't sleep through geography like did, I apologize. The creature that Bulkhead and Bumblebee are fighting is called the Tyrant, one the more recognizable bosses from the games. This one specifically, is from the Damnation CGI movie. It didn't have a name so I named it for the number it wore on it's coat.**

 **I kept the fighting to a minimum this chapter because it was mostly against soldiers and I didn't want to go the Resident Evil 6 route. Next chapter, we'll see more action with more familiar RE creatures.**

 **This is the last one, I swear.**

 **"Have you ever noticed when you're driving that anybody who's driving slower than you is an idiot? And anyone driving faster than you is a maniac!"**


	10. Chapter 10

[Non-English Language]

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Jill walked into one of the labs of the research floor of the facility. Arcee waited outside, being unable to fit through the entrance. The glass on the outside was see through to observe the experiments being conducted within. The laboratory, however, was walled in with reflective glass. The one-sided mirror allowed them to work without the feeling of being watched affecting their research, or for the facility superiors to keep guard over them, Jill wasn't sure which. This one was locked with an electronic card reader instead of a decontaminate chamber, meaning there wasn't any bio-hazardous materials stored inside. When she entered the room using the key card she took from one of the guards, only a single scientist was present. Jill didn't spare a second to grab him by the collar of lab coat. She let go of her submachine gun, allowing to dangle from her shoulder. She drew her sidearm and placed the barrel to his jaw. He squirmed in her grasp, pleading with her not to harm him in his native language. She was having none of it, not while they still had Jack.

"I'm only going to ask this once. Where is Jackson Darby?"

"Watashi wa kaibō o okonatte kudasai!"

Stupidly realizing that the scientist spoke no English, she went back on her threat and asked him again.

"Jakusondābī ga doko ni aru ka oshietekudasai!"

Jill was sure her Japanese was a mockery of the language. But as long as her intentions were clear, she could care less how terrible it sounded.

[There's no one who works here by that name!]

Jill pulled the man closer.

[He's not a worker, he's a prisoner! If you don't tell me where he is...]

[There is no prisoner by that name!]

Jill held her weapon very closely to the side of the scientist's head. She squeezed off a round by the wall which caused him to yelp in pain and jerk his head away. He tried to escaped from Jill, but she tightened her grip. Blood was now coming from his left ear. No doubt it was either ringing painfully, or deathly muted of sound entirely. Jill placed the barrel back to it's previous spot, which caused him to flinch from the burning steel.

[Don't lie to me again!]

[You are Jill Valentine?]

[Yes, I am.]

[If you are here, then whoever you are looking for is very important, yes?]

[Important to me!]

[Then he is not here!]

[One more time, lie to me one more time!]

[He would've known you were coming!]

Jill stopped herself from losing her temper and listened.

[Umbrella wants you dead, you and your partner Chris Redfield! If Captain Wesker thought that taking this person would bring you to this facility, he would've oversaw his arrival himself! But he is not here! The person you are looking for is not here, either! We have received no one of value!]

Jill immediately pulled her gun and let go of the scientist. Did he just say Wesker?

[Wesker...as in Albert Wesker?]

The scientist, who was now trembling, quickly recognized his mistake. As if all fear had left him, he stood up straight in looked Jill in her face.

[Shoot me.]

[No, you tell me who your captain is!]

[Shoot me!] He demanded with more urgency.

[Albert Wesker, blonde guy, wears sunglasses indoors, is that who you answer to?!]

[SHOOT ME!] He pleadingly cried.

He suddenly rushed Jill, attempting to grab the gun from her hand. She figured he was trying to provoke her to kill him. Instead, Jill forced him back with her free hand, clocking the side of his head with the butt end of her pistol. The man fell to the floor, grasping his bleeding head wound.

[Where do you keep the T-Vaccines?]

The scientist took a while to answer back, groaning from the painful blow to the head. He looked at Jill weakly, gasping slightly with each breath.

[Past the metal doors of this sector...in the sealed off bio-hazard area. Laboratory 1-D...is where we synthesize the vaccines.]

Jill holstered her weapon to took her smg back in her hand.

[Thank you.]

[Now...will you shoot me?] He hopefully asked.

Jill looked back to the scientist with the slightest grain of pity. No one deserved to become one of Umbrella's test subjects. But given how these missions usually ended up, she couldn't afford to be merciful.

[I'm sorry, but I might need the bullets.]

His face fell with complete hopelessness.

[There's plenty of stuff you can probably get it done with in here. Figure it out for yourself. Just make sure your brain is dead completely.]

With that, Jill left the lab and rejoined with Arcee, leaving the scientist to his own fate.

Arcee and Jill walked side by side to the large metal doors which were opened. Jill knew that Arcee could hear her talking with the scientist from the other side of the glass and that she probably could translate what they were saying. She could see the anxiety beginning to creep on her face.

"If Jack isn't here, what then?" The worry was so painfully evident.

"We get the vaccine and get out of here...and pray that the others found him."

Jill kept her face stoic, but she was just as on the edge as her cobalt companion. They walked down the corridor in uncomfortable silence before Arcee spoke up.

"Who's Wesker?"

Jill let her grim feelings betray her attempts to remain stoic.

"Someone you never want to meet."

'Someone who should be dead.' She thought to herself.

As they approached the metal doors, something began shifting far behind them. Neither had noticed the slow tapping sounds of claws on metal, or the throaty groans of a creature no longer human. Remaining in the shadows, it slowly stalked the two as they searched for the room that they were looking for. Back at the lab, the scientist was frantically searching for something among the many chemicals stored on the shelves. He was looking for anything that would kill his brain instantly. Finding nothing that would do more than kill him while keeping his brain intact, the scientist gave up hope. Then, he spotted the safe behind the shelf. Remembering the emergency vaccines that he and another scientist stored there, he went to it hoping something of use was inside. When he opened it, he nearly cried in relief. It was low caliber, but it was a pistol nonetheless. He was saved...so to speak. He took the gun and checked to make sure it was loaded. Relieved to see that it was, he mentally prepared himself for what came next. He leaned against the glass wall, taking deep breaths to work up the nerves to do it. He had never wished for something to get him drunk more than this moment. He finally brought the gun to the side of his head, wrapping his finger around trigger. He took a few more breaths, counting down from ten to fire the gun. His finger was beginning to apply pressure.

 _CRASH_

From behind him, something had tackled him to the ground. He couldn't see what it was, but from the shrieking sound it was making, he knew with all his horror what was on top of him. The unseen creature began clawing at his back, ripping it to shreds. His screams would've reached Arcee and Jill, but the metal doors were already closed. Lockdown had begun.

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Bulkhead and Bumblebee were both battered and beaten. This pale creature had been evading their energon blasts, either stopping or brushing off their attacks, and smashing them to the pit and back.

 **"Bulkhead, I have a plan."**

"It better be a good one because this guy is not playing around."

Not knowing if the creature could understand them, or Bulkhead at least, Bumblebee quietly and quickly gave his plan to the Wrecker.

"Well, ain't like I got any better ideas. Let do it, Bee."

The scout beeped in agreement. Suddenly, Bulkhead transformed again and road at full speed for the bald monster in the green coat. Just as before, it went to meet him head on. Bulkhead rammed into it with the full force of his Cybertronian horsepower. Before it could stop him again, Bulkhead hit the breaks and broke into a 180 spin. Once the creature had it's back to Bumblebee, Bulkhead sped away in reverse to put some distance between him and it. Bumblebee open fire with three blasts that knocked it to it's knees. It turned around to look at the scout, which gave Bulkhead the opening he was hoping for. Wasting no time, he armed his mace and closed the gap as quickly as he could. When it was in front of him, Bulkhead whacked it good with his melee weapon, which sent it flying into the wall. It wound up lodged in the dent that it's body created. Seizing the opportunity, the Autobot duo came together and bombarded it with energon blasts from both of their ranged weapons. When they ceased their fire, they took a step back and waited for the smoke to clear. They wanted to make sure the being was dead. Finally, it fell forward and landed face down. It's coat had been burned away, and it's skin was charred and smoking. The only thing that remained was the metal collar that was barely hanging around it's neck. The form remained still as a statue. Both Bumblebee and Bulkhead waited for a moment before sighing in relief together.

"Even Breakdown never wore me out like that."

 **"That thing was a monster! Is that what Umbrella does here?!"**

"Is doesn't matter what they do. We gotta find Jack and get'em away from these sickos. Just hope we don't run into any more of those... _things_."

Before they had a chance to press on, the creature began to move.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!"

The metal collar, which had several wires and fuses inside of it, fell from it's body. Bulkhead shifted to his blaster again, aiming to shoot it until it was a pile of dust. The monstrous roar from the creature stopped him before he could. It's body began undergoing some sort of transformation, as it's muscles started shifting as if something was moving beneath the flesh. The creature roared again as if it were in pain. Bulkhead and Bumblebee knew they should've been shooting at it, but were too frozen with fear to even look away. It's upper body expanded grotesquely leaving it's head without a visible neck. Both arms began to deform as several black claws protruded from where it's hands should've been. Suddenly, an enlarged heart burst from beneath it's chest. As is beat against the open air, crimson veins bulged from the heart and it's chest, going all the way up the creature's neck to the side of it's face. It's expression no longer stoic, it let out one final roar to the ceiling as it threw it's claws to it's sides as if it had burst free from imprisonment. It regained it's composure, casting it's stoic look at the two horrified Autobots.

"'Bee?"

 **"Yeah, Bulk?"**

"Go on ahead and find Jack. I'll keep this thing off of you."

Bumblebee didn't like the sound of that one bit.

 **"No way, Bulk! I'm not leaving you alone with that thing!"**

"We're wasting time! If Jack is here, the jokers in charge are probably gettin' ready to make a run for it with'em. Find them and Jack, and get the frag outta here!"

 **"But Bulkhead, what about Miko?"**

Bulkhead thought about his BFF, fearing that he may never see her again. He shook his helm to erase any doubts in his processors.

"I ain't offlinin' here and neither are you. Now get a move on."

Bumblebee saw that the creature had not moved, keeping it's eyes locked onto Bulkhead's optics. He wanted to save Jack, to get back home to Raf, but he didn't want to leave Bulkhead behind. If he went back without him, Miko would be crushed. June was completely beside herself when Arcee brought her to base. The thought of Miko being that upset was keeping Bumblebee from doing what Bulkhead told him to.

"Bee! You're a scout and I'm a warrior, that means I outrank you! So get your aft out of here and find Jack!"

Bulkhead shifted to his mace again and prepared for the creature to make the first move.

"Go Now!"

Bumblebee hesitated for a second.

 **"I'll find him, just don't make me have to break Miko's heart."**

Bumblebee took his alt form and sped away from his friend and the monster he was fighting alone. It wasted no time in trying to stop him from getting away.

"Hey!"

Bulkhead cut it off and smacked it back to the other end of the corridor with his mace.

"You gotta deal with me first, ugly!"

The creature stood back up and stared Bulkhead down. It moved slower than it did before, he noticed. Bulkhead was going to have to pay very close attention if he wanted to beat this thing. He had to fight it like Optimus or Arcee would, not like a Wrecker. If he wanted to destroy Umbrella down to the last pencil necked punk wearing a lab coat, he was going to have to know how to stop monsters like this. Umbrella had to fall. He wasn't going to let them set something like this loose on the world, on Miko's world.

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Jill stood patiently as the two T-Vaccines synthesized. Once again, Arcee stood guard outside, not being able to fit through the sealed door. This room, unlike the testing room, did not have double sided glass to observe those inside discreetly. As the vaccine neared completion, Jill was deep in thought. Jack wasn't here, and she was discouraged by that. Even though there was a chance that he was being kept at the other two locations, she didn't want to consider the possibly that he was at neither. Umbrella had hundreds of facilities, each heavily guarded by soldiers and B.O.W.s. The chances of finding him before he could be tested on would go right into the negatives. If Umbrella knew that Jill was looking for him, they would move him from location to location to keep him out of her reach. Jill shook her head and stopped with that way of thinking. Losing hope wasn't going to save Jack. She made the boy a promise and would be damned if she didn't keep it. Jack was her little brave one, he was probably trooping it out as best he could. He was waiting for her no doubt, as well as Arcee. That's right, she had the Autobots on her side. They had to go against the odds, just like in Raccoon City. She never wanted to see Jack in that state again, and she definitely never wanted to see June so broken again. She had to protect them from Umbrella, from Wesker.

Wesker...How the hell was he still alive? She saw it herself along with Chris and Barry. The T-002 Tyrant, the so called "Ultimate Weapon", ran him through with it's massive claw. Rebecca even confirmed him dead after they incapacitated that monster. Was it a trick, a double, some kind of clone? None of which were beneath Umbrella. The T-Virus, perhaps? No way, that man spoke of Wesker as if he was running this facility. The T-Virus wouldn't have been able to do that, to bring back Wesker all the way. If he was really alive, then Jack was in worse danger than she thought. From what she learned about him in Spencer's mansion, Wesker was a sadistic and cruel bastard. He and William Birkin were behind everything that happened to the Trevor family, the experiments conducted on the mother and daughter being the worst. Jill remembered Lisa Trevor, the thing she was turned into that stalked her and Chris throughout the mansion. She was a human once, but the thing she became...Jill still had nightmares about it. Her mother died before she reached that state, and her father became a crimson head after he starved to death in his own tomb. Whatever Wesker had planned for Jackson, it would something along those lines, or worse.

"Hsss, ow." she said to herself.

She had been gripping her sidearm so hard that she pinched her thumb between the slide. As she wiped the small dot of blood away, she purged her mind of every bad thought going through it. Any other time she would have been realistic about the situation. But Jack was a special case and she had to grab hold of the tiniest bit of hope that she would save him. She tried to save so many people back in Raccoon City and failed. Jack and June were the only ones who she was able to protect. She didn't fail them then and she wasn't going to fail them now.

Just then, Jill heard a banging sound from outside the chamber. It was right where Arcee should've been waiting for her. The beeping sound of the completed vaccines called her attention until she heard another, more unusual sound. It sound like...a laser? No, Arcee's blaster. She was engaging something outside. Jill quickly grabbed the vaccines and put them in her pouch. She readied her weapon and left the chamber.

Outside, Arcee was nowhere to be found. She wasn't worried about her safety, being that she was a giant made of metal who was more than likely immune to any infection. But she was also their escape with that groundbridge thing, and Jill was presently on her own.

"Arcee?" She called out.

She kept he weapon aimed as she looked down the opposite corridor which the lights had gone out. This was not a good situation to be in. Knowing the facilities all too well, Jill knew that the research sector was also the place where they stored some of their weaker test subjects. If the lights were out and paths were locked down, that could only mean one thing.

"uugghhh." Jill heard from the corridor to her left.

She fixed her weapon and listened for the shuffling sounds of dragging feet, the signature noise of a zombie. As the the sounds multiplied, she realized that a group had been released and she might have to shoot her way out. The creatures then emerged from the darkness, naked as the day they were born. Jill set her weapon to semi-auto and aimed straight for their heads. Having done this for a long time, she knew how to make every bullet count. She opened fire, making sure that every bullet found a head. The herd being packed so close together made multiple head shots easy. Zombies fell lifeless to the floor, causing the ones behind them to trip. While that slowed them down, it also made it difficult to see how many were left and how many were actually dead and not trying to crawl to her. She kept them at bay, but heard the sounds of movement to her left where she was just standing. More of them were coming down that corridor now. Her gun went dry and she reloaded quickly. Fighting them here would only be a waste of ammo. She needed to find Arcee and escape. The corridor behind would've only led her to where they had come in, which was now sealed off. A dead end was a death sentence on these missions. Praying she would run into Arcee, Jill ran off to her right down the dimly lit corridor. The zombie herd slowly trailed behind her, stepping over the many that she took down before she fled. As she did, a few of them began bleeding through their skin, causing them turn red. Their crimson skin stood out against the pale color of the undead stepping over them.

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Arcee had never seen anything like them, the four creatures that attacked her and forced her away from Jill. They had no skin or eyes to speak of, seemingly being made of pure, exposed muscle and nerves. They walked around on all fours, which bore sinister looking claws that were able to tear into her frame easily. Where their eyes should've been, their brain tissue stood as exposed as the rest their body. They each bore a set of razor sharp teeth and an elongated tongue like a chameleon, which one of them had used to pull Arcee down the corridor. The most terrifying thing about them was the sound they made before attacking. Even the cry of the Insecticons that guarded Kaon couldn't compare to the piercing shriek of these disgusting creatures. Arcee was feeling the pain of her injuries, these things were actually able to harm her. They were only slightly bigger than her torso, but they were deadly all the same. They were fast too, able to move out of the way of her blasts. She heard the tapping sound of their claws from both the shadowy ceiling and the floor. One of them was letting of a very raspy groan as they moved closer. She wanted to transform and drive right through them, but she didn't want to risk leading them back to Jill. One thing she knew for certain, Umbrella was sick for creating monsters such as this. One of them shrieked viciously and lunged at Arcee. Rather than try to blast the fast moving creature, she managed to punch it right into the wall next to her. She drew her arm blade and went to strike at the monster, but she felt something wrap around her wrist and tug it back. It was another one of the creatures and it's disgusting tongue. When it tugged at her arm, it caused her to expose her midsection. From the wall, a third creature lunged into her and held onto her frame. It shrieked loudly before sinking it's teeth into Arcee's shoulder. She grunted in pain, but the creature jerked it's head back as energon burned it's mouth. Using to moment of distraction, Arcee shifted her free hand into a blaster. She pressed it against the monster's lower section and blew it in half. The remains of the creature was blown away from her and landed on it's back, releasing one final shriek of pain before going still. Shifting her blaster into a blade, she sliced the tongue that held her other servo hostage, causing the creature to cry in pain and fall to the ground in front of her. Without mercy, she kicked it as hard as she could down the hall and ran for it to finish the creature off. Unfortunately, she ran under the fourth monster which dropped down on her frame with enough force to knock her over. She tried to reach for it but, but it too bit into Arcee's frame, this time in between her neck and shoulder. Like the last one, it pulled away once her energon bled through and burned the creature's flesh. These things didn't learn from their mistakes it seemed. Once again using the distraction to her advantage, the reach over her shoulder and pulled the creature to the floor in front of her. On her pedes in no time at all, she brought one down on top it hard. It writhed beneath her strength to no avail. She shifted her blaster again and this time took aim for it's head. It shrieked just before Acree reduced it's entire top half safe for it's arms, into nothing. Before she could scan the area for the remaining two, something rushed into her from behind. She managed to throw it off and recover, only for another to latch onto her arm. The creature slashed into her chassis, causing her incredible pain. The other jumped onto her back, tearing one of her winglets off. Arcee stumbled around the corridor, slamming herself it to the walls to try and get the two monsters off of her. Ramming her side into the wall hard enough to cause the one on her arm to loosen it's grip, she use this chance to elbow it with enough strength to get it off of her. The one on her back continued to claw at her, doing a bit of damage to her helm. She finally managed to pry it off her back and throw down the path she had come from. Stumbling backwards, she tripped herself over what she thought was a group of humans. Because of her injuries, the fall caused her a great deal of pain and disorientation. After a few moments, her senses returned. That's when she realized the large number of human hands grabbing at her. When she opened her optics, she immediately wished she didn't. Skin devoid of color, pupil-less eyes, emotionless expressions, and all trying to tear her apart. These were them, the human undead. They were not the purple optics bearing, snarling, feral beasts that Cliffjumper had become, and they were of no threat to Arcee. Those two facts didn't stop her from freezing up at the sight of them, optics full of horror. The sounds of their moans were drowning out any rational thoughts she might've had, as they futily grabbed at her frame. They were trying to tear her apart, she realized. Some of them attempted to reach into her wounds only to pull away when they came in contact with her energon lifeblood. This was what June, Jack, and Jill had to survive from, the monsters they had to escape. Even as big as she was compared to them, the sight of these _things_ rocked her to her very core. For a ten year-old Jack, Arcee knew it must've been a nightmare. Then a horrific realization came to her. Jack almost became one of these creatures. Suddenly, all of the zombies changed before her optics. When she looked at them, all she saw was Jack. His black hair now messy and falling out, his pale skin almost as white as Ratchet's frame, his blue eyes now dulled and lifeless, and his ever thoughtful expressions now replaced with a mindless look of hunger. And the worst part, they didn't know who she was...just like Cliff.

"No." She said to herself. "Not Jack."

As quick as a light switch, she got to her pedes and began knocking over every zombie in her path.

"Not him! I won't let it!"

Arming her blades, she began cutting her way through the herd, splattering infected blood onto her frame and blades.

"I won't let him become one of you!"

Arcee armed her blasters and began turning the poor mutated humans into little more than charred hunks of flesh. She felt her leg get pulled from under her and was brought down on her knee. The creature that pulled her down by it's tongue used it to pull itself to her. Anticipating it's movements, Arcee twisted around and slammed the end of her blaster right into it's body. She pinned it the ground with a look of anger reserved for the likes of Airachnid. She blasted into the little monster, reducing it into a pile of dust this time. When she stood up, another tongue wrapped around her neck. She looked up and saw the clawed creature hanging from the ceiling. It's grip tightened around her, causing minor pain. Fed up with it, Arcee grabbed it's tongue and yanked it down to the floor. It landed on it's back, taking a few zombies down with it. Before it could turn itself over, Arcee ran up to it and stomped down on the creature's chest with enough force to crush most of the zombies around it. It shrieked in pain before she brought her pede back up and stomped down again. This time it remained still, but was not dead. She lifted her pede once more. When she brought it down this time, the creature splattered beneath her weight, giving of a loud squelching sound and squirting blood all over the floor beneath it. Arcee removed her pede and looked at the sickening sight before her. The zombies were still trying to grab at her, but she ignored them at the moment.

The Decepticons had done horrible experiments during the war, most of them at the servos of Megatron's lead scientist Shockwave. She thought humans weren't capable of the same type of madness, she was wrong.

'Why would someone create something like this?' she thought before looking to the animated corpses still trying to pull her down. 'These people are insane, that's the only thing I can think of.'

She wondered if the creature was once a human. Is this what Umbrella turned them into? Was this suppose to be the next stage in Human evolution?

"Jack, please still be you when I find you."

It was at this moment that Arcee remembered Jill, who was on her own against this horde and possibly those monsters.

"Scrap!"

She took her alt form and raced back down the corridor she was pulled from, knocking over any creature in her path.

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 **This is part one of a two parter, hence the reason for the delay. Unfortunately, I work in a shopping district and it's the holidays, so my updates are gonna take a hit.**

 **So I kinda felt like this was a bit of filler at first, but I tried to make all the missions work towards something. Obviously, Bulk and Bee are on Jack's trail and Optimus is dealing with the reality of what he might have to do. Jill has the vaccines, even though they're useless, but she also found out that Wesker is still alive.**

 **The creatures that Arcee is fighting are called Lickers, probably the most recognizable creature from the franchise. These in particular are Licker Betas, except their not controlled by the Uroboros Virus. Don't know if I'm gonna include that in my story, or the Plagas either. After I wrote the battle, I started to wonder how they could dodge Arcee's blaster but not a shotgun shell or a grenade round. In the show, it always seemed like energon blasts moved slow enough to dodge. Eh, I'll address that in the next chapter.**

 **So why are the zombies trying to kill Arcee even though she's made of metal not flesh? Eh...I guess they know that she's a living being and might think they're is a human inside. Whatever. And yes, I'm aware that Jill could've spared a bullet for the scientist since she wasted one earlier. I figure she wasn't thinking at the time, being worried about Jack and all. I'm full of excuses today.**

 **Also, I have no idea how reliable google translate is. If they're any Japanese speakers among my readers and whatever I wrote down translates to gibberish, I apologize and place on the blame on Google. Unless of course I actually wrote it right. In which case, disregard the previous statement, I did not use Google at all. Well, here's the next chapter. (Raises champagne glass of Arizona Iced Tea. Still get's drunk somehow. "It Begins!")**


	11. Chapter 11

Bulkhead wasn't doing too great against the now clawed monster he was fighting. Despite it's reduced speed, he hadn't managed a clean hit on it and ended up taking a few of his own. With energon leaking from his frame, he didn't have the energy to spare to use his blaster. It was just him and his mace. The creature charged at him again, Bulkhead didn't know how many times it had done that already. It leapt into the air, ready to strike at Bulkhead upon descent. He managed to get out of it's way before it struck. It buried it's claws into the metal floor. Bulkhead moved in and smacked it as hard as he could with his mace. It flew to the other end of the corridor, but dug it's claws into the ground to bring it to a stop.

"You're tickin' me off, freak!"

He took his alt form and drove for the beast. When he got close enough, he transformed again and jumped into the air with his weapon. The creature avoided his downward attack and rushed into Bulkhead's chassis, taking a swipe at his upper part. He knocked it away and gained some distance with his alt before going bipedal again. It was running towards Bulkhead at full speed.

"Alright Bulkhead, think. What would Optimus do?"

The creature was getting closer.

"He'd just step on it until it stopped moving. Slag it, I ain't no Prime and I can't fight like one! What would Arcee do?"

Something clicked in his processors as the creature closed in on him. Bringing it's claw back to tear Bulkhead apart, the big 'Bot rolled out of it's way at the last minute. The being stopped a few feet behind him. Bulkhead slammed his mace into it and sent it down the other end of the hall. He ran for it as fast as he could to crush it completely. Before he could even raise his mace, it ran to his leg and carved a through the side of it all the way to the back.

"AAAARRRGHHH! You little..."

The creature hopped in Bulkheads back and dug it's claw behind his shoulder. The Wrecker yelled painfully, but grabbed it and threw back down the other end of the corridor. Realizing that he needed to change his tactic, he transformed and drove away as fast as he could, trying to come up with a way to beat this thing.

He ended up in a large area that had a few shipment containers lying around as well as a walkway suspended from the ceiling. As he scanned the room, he saw that it was sprinkled with a few human bodies here and there. Most of them were killed by blunt trauma, being broken in some places or in half completely. Others looked like they were crushed by something massive.

"Did that _thing_ do this?" The shocked Bulkhead thought out loud.

He heard it coming down the corridor and ran to the opposite end of the area. When the creature appeared, Bulkhead grabbed one of the containers and threw it at the creature. It managed to hit the being and pin it to the wall, but it didn't take long before it ripped through it like tissue. Bulkhead back away before hitting his back against the walkway. The creature jumped on one of the containers and jumped for Bulkhead's helm. He managed to move out of the way, causing the monster to tear down a part of the walkway. It landed on it's feet, but raised it's claws to stop another container from smashing it into a wall again. Before it knew what was next, Bulkhead slammed his mace against the container still stuck to it's claw and sent them both into another. He shifted his other servo into a blaster, risking more energon with his next shot. The creature tore through the container and jumped out of the way as the blast destroyed the pile of metal.

"Scrap!"

The creature stared Bulkhead down, it's emotionless gaze becoming harder. As he backed away, he felt another container behind his leg. This one looked more secure than the others and Bulkhead could hear something moving inside of it. The creature went on the move for him again. Bulkhead responded by hopping over the container and kicking it across the ground at the thing coming his way. It stopped the container dead in it's track with it's claw, creating a large hole when he removed it. Something screeched from inside and jumped out at the being, followed by four more just like it.

"What the frag?!"

Bulkhead watched as the being fought against a group of five bipedal, reptilian-like creatures with claws of their own and each baring fangs. The slashed and shrieked at the being, doing little more than distract it from Bulkhead. They held their own for an admirable amount of time before it made short work of them with it's massive claws. Once the final one was run through by the being, Bulkhead moved in. He flipped the container with the green monsters in it over and on top of the being. It held it up with it's claws, but Bulkhead smashed it down with with his melee weapon. He went to crush it again, but the being ripped through the flattened container and struck at Bulkhead's forearm, getting pulled away as he lifted it. It pulled it's claw out and landed back on the ground while Bulkhead stumbled against more containers by the far wall. The being stood tall and began walking towards the Autobot. It stopped suddenly, choosing to stare at Bulkhead blankly.

"I ain't got all night, tiny!"

The creature responded by charging at Bulkhead, ready to tear him into scrap metal. Before it got to him, he grabbed the platform above him and brought it down on top of the being. It became tangled in the metal for a mere second, in which Bulkhead grabbed it and throw it on top of one of the containers. It ended up inside of it, going through the top with enough force to throw the doors open. Bulkhead noticed something leaking out of the container. He scanned it and saw that it was a flammable agent. Bulkhead ran to the other side of the room and armed his blaster. The being was about to come out of the container when Bulkhead fired at it. The chemicals inside ignited and let loose a large explosion that destroyed that side of the area completely and swallowed the being whole. Between the energon blast and the explosion, Bulkhead was almost sure that it was dead. But the being stalked out of the fire to his shock and horror.

"What The Frag Are You?!"

The creature stopped moving and dropped to one knee. It wasn't dead, but it was hurt. Bulkhead was not going to let it get back up. Yelling in anger, he ran to it with his mace raised and mercilessly brought it down on the being hard. It didn't dodge or strike back this time, it was just brought down to it's stomach under Bulkhead's weapon. The Wrecker didn't let up, he wanted to make sure it was dead this time. He began pounding on it with his weapon and his free servo, grunting angrily each time he did. The being went limp after a few strikes, but Bulkhead didn't stop until he was satisfied. He shifted his weapon back and began stomping on it within seconds. He slammed down once, twice, three times, and with the fourth, he roared with rage as he lifted his pede higher this time and stomped it down with enough force to cause every crate to move an inch or two. Finally having enough, he removed his pede to look at his handiwork. It wasn't completely crushed, but blood was beginning to pool beneath it and it's claws had broken off from it's body. Bulkhead looked at it for a few minutes, wanting to make sure it wasn't just playing dead. When enough time passed of it not moving, Bulkhead decided that he was done. He dropped on one knee, supporting his other side with his fist. He'd never faced something so vicious since he came to Earth with others, and he hoped that he would never have to again. But this was just one of Umbrella's creations, and that container held something different entirely. It was clear now that his mission wasn't going to end after they rescued Jack.

Bulkead pushed himself up against his own injuries.

"Gotta find 'Bee."

With that, he took to his alt form and raced down the opposite corridor.

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Jill ran down the endless hallways to escape the horde behind her. By now, her submachine gun had run dry and she was forced to discard it. She armed her pistol, saving her precious shells for anything worse than zombies. What the hell happened to Arcee? She wasn't asking herself out of anger, but worry. She knew that something must have engaged her while she synthesized the vaccine. And while she thought that most of Umbrella's B.O.W.s weren't much of a threat to her, she feared that some of their more powerful experiments could cause her harm. Of course, their separation meant that Jill was stuck in this facility without an escape, plus Arcee did have her grenade launcher which she was certain she was going to need. As she turned another corner, six zombies were waiting for her. Six shots were all she needed to get them out of her way. But it wasn't going to be like this forever. Eventually she was going to run out of ammo and running would be her only option. Outrunning them was easy enough, but it seemed like no matter where she turned, there were always more around the corner. She shot her way through four more, having to reload once again. As she pulled back the slide, she saw something pushing it's way through the herd. Suddenly, a crimson colored zombie broke through the front and was coming right at Jill. Thinking fast, Jill aimed her weapon and fired three shots into it's head. The final one blew half of it's face away and it dropped at her feet. Another had pushed it's way through, causing Jill to panic. She quickly reached for her shotgun and fired into it's chest. It fell backwards which tripped over some of the zombies behind it, but prevented Jill from finishing it off. Knowing she was going to have to deal with it later, Jill decided to keep running.

Crimson Heads, or as Barry once referred to them, super zombies. When a zombie is killed, sometimes they remain dead. Other times, however, they reanimate themselves a second time. Their blood seeps through their skin, giving them a crimson color, hence the name. When this happens, their skin gets tougher and their nails become claws. They come to a more feral state, choosing to tear at their victims with their claws rather than try and devour them. They are difficult to kill, almost as difficult as Lickers. Thankfully, they were easy to spot on the ground for a veteran like Jill. As she turned another corner, she came to area she had come through already. Several zombie corpses littered the floor. Jill eyed them quickly, looking for the tell tale signs of change. As she looked to the last one, she saw the blood already staining it's skin.

"Better deal with this one now."

Before she could get to it, she had to duck away from the claw of the Crimson Head from before. It groaned at her viciously, it's breath visible. As it ran for her, Jill fired her pistol and brought it down with four bullets. She backed away as she heard the horde getting closer. She didn't notice another Crimson Head rising to it's feet. The groan it released got her attention, but it was already too close. She just barely managed to move out of the way and took aim with her shotgun. With her back to the corner of the hall, another zombie grabbed her before she could shoot it down. It wrestled with her, trying to get at her throat. Seeing the Crimson Head coming for her, she managed to get the zombie it front of her which stopped it's claws with it's head. One shot to the head blew it away completely and she ran further down the hall.

Jill was starting to panic now. Every zombie she took down was a potential Crimson Head waiting to happen. She ran further down the hall, seeing a large area coming up. She prayed that she would find Arcee soon. Before she reached the end, a long tongue shot down and took hold of her shotgun. With a tug, it was pulled from her hands and thrown away. Landing right in front of it was one the dreaded Lickers. Jill hated these things, almost as much as the Nemesis. Not only were they so fast that you had to wait for them to get close or leap at you to take your shot, but they were ammo sponges to anything less than a shotgun shell. Worse, these were Licker Betas. They were much stronger and more durable than the original B.O.W.s. And just like most of Umbrella's weapons, they were once human. With only nine bullets left in her pistol, Jill was getting nervous. The Licker groaned at Jill before leaping for her. She dodged it's attack and fired three shots into it's side as it landed. The Licker responded by taking her arm with it's tongue. As it tried to pull Jill closer to it, she managed to fire off three rounds into it's mouth. While it kept it from breaking her skin, it did not let go. Managing to grab her knife from her belt, she sliced of the end of it's tongue, which caused the Licker the screech in pain. Jill ran for her shotgun, but the Licker ran for her. Jumping to take her head off, Jill dove under it's claw and rolled into her weapon. As she turned the creature was already in mid pounce. Jill moved quickly to aim her weapon and blasted the Licker in the torso, throwing on it's back. It quickly recovered to come face to face with the barrel. Buckshot shredded it's face and ended it's life.

Jill took a moment to catch her breath. She had put enough distance between her and the herd for the time being. She loaded up that last remaining shells into her shotgun before she heard the sound of blaster fire coming from larger area.

"Arcee!"

She ran to the open area, where she saw Arcee at the other end. But the large gap between the two was crawling with more zombie and Arcee was wrestling with a group of Lickers. Jill couldn't hope to get through with the ammo she had left, especially with the Lickers that Arcee was dealing with. Jill raced past the zombies and hopped onto one of the large generators against the wall and out of the zombie's reach.

"Arcee!" She called across the room.

Arcee looked over and saw Jill calling to her. She managed to knock the two Lickers crawling over her away just long enough to understand the situation. Jill was trapped and Arcee couldn't risk bringing these things to her. Remembering the weapon she was holding for her, Arcee retrieved it from her subspace. She threw to Jill as accurately as she could, but was thrown off when another one of the Lickers attacked her.

The grenade launcher landed not too far from Jill, but also in the midst of zombies and out of her reach. Jill took her shotgun began mowing down zombies to create a path. She jumped to the ground to clear the space for her to get to her weapon. Once she got to it, more of them began closing in on her. She fired her remaining shells and grabbed it with one hand, pulling her pistol with the other. They were getting too close, forcing Jill to knock them back with a few high kicks and roundhouses. Backing away, Jill fired the last of her ammo at the zombies before jumping back onto the generator. She looked to her companion and saw that was now struggling against six Lickers. Jill had one round for each of those disgusting things if she could hit her mark. Thankfully, most of them were close together as they attacked Arcee. Jill hoped that her weapon wouldn't be able to harm the Cybertronian and took aim.

"Heads up, Arcee!"

Jill fired one round, which exploded against two of them. The blast didn't seem to affect Arcee too much. Jill fired three more at the Lickers on the ground, taking out two more along with a few zombies. One of them dodged her fifth round, but Arcee managed to blast it from behind. Jill saw that last one preparing to drop onto Arcee and fired her remaining round. It knocked it down but didn't kill it. That didn't last long when Arcee stomped down and crushed it. With the Lickers out of the way, Arcee and Jill got sight of each other. The two wheeler shifted her blaster and began creating a path for June through the zombies. Once it was clear enough, she hit her comm link to base.

"Ratchet, Bridge, Now!"

Within seconds, the groundbridge opened up between them. Arcee kept firing at the zombies to keep them away from it. She didn't want these things to follow them back to base.

"Go, Jill!"

Jill jumped down and ran for the vortex as fast as her legs could take her. Once she was through, Arcee shifted to her alt form and raced for bridge herself. She was almost there when a tongue wrapped around her handlebar. A seventh Licker pulled itself onto her empty seat and caused her to shift back and try to get it off. Now on her back, it dug a claw into her back which knocked her through the groundbridge.

Arcee stumbled through the bridge, nearly landing on top of Jill. The agent was barely able to jump out of the way before she noticed her passenger. The bridge closed without letting anything else through, but the Licker jumped off of Arcee and took notice of Ratchet and the other humans. Every eye and optic went into pure shock as it screeched as loud of it could at them. June quickly pulled Miko and Rafael behind her. Ratchet stood in front of them and Fowler. Jill was powerless to do anything without any of her weapons. The Licker shrieked again and started running to towards the group. Ratchet armed his scalpel and Fowler pulled out his weapon. Just as it was about to lunge at them, Arcee's blade pinned it to the ground. It cried in pain and attempted to get to the humans with it's tongue. It came withing inches of Fowler's face. Arcee shifted her other blade and with one stroke, sliced the Licker's head clean off. It rolled away from it's body and landed at Ratchet's pedes. The medic was at a near loss for words. Arcee removed her blade and shifted them both back before standing up.

"What. In The Allspark. Is That?" The medic nervously asked.

Arcee looked to him and the other humans, trying to make sure that they were unharmed. When she concluded that they were, she answered.

"Umbrella." She replied with contempt in her voice.

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The yellow and black Urbana 500 raced down the corridors as fast as he could. Without his voice, Bumblebee couldn't question any of the remaining humans in the facility, so he had to wait and listen in on their conversations from far away. He heard from a pair of them of an escape train somewhere in the facility. Finding a map on the wall that told him where to find it, the scout rushed to the location with all his speed in the hopes that it hadn't left already. If it was long gone, so was Jack. Bulkhead was telling the truth about Rafael. If Jack wasn't saved, the boy would be hurt beyond anything Bumblebee could do to help him. He couldn't let that happen to his little friend, he couldn't let one of his most trusted teammates lose another partner, and Jack was his friend too. Bumblebee lost too many of those on both Earth and Cybertron, he couldn't stand to lose anymore. He prayed that Bulkhead was okay, having left him alone with that monster. Things were really looking bad, but the scout couldn't give up.

Bumblebee finally came to the platform, but the train was nowhere in sight.

 **"No!"** The scout cried as he transformed into his bipedal mode.

He began to panic, trying to think of what to do next. He looked down the tunnel and decided grasp at the slightest hope. It was a long shot, but maybe the train hadn't gotten too far. Bumblebee transformed again and drove down the pathway. He kicked his speed into high gear, hoping that he would see the tail end of the locomotive any minute. As the tunnel carried on, he was beginning to lose hope. Suddenly, Bumblebee heard the metallic screeching sounds in the distance. He picked up his speed and eventually he saw it. The train was right in front of him. Thanking Primus, the scout pulled up right behind it. He scanned the inside of the last cabin, and saw two heat signatures within. Taking his bipedal form again, Bumblebee grabbed onto the end of the train and ripped the back open with his Cybertronian strength. Inside, he saw it's passengers.

The tall blonde man with the shades stood up defensively with a harsh look on his face. Beside him, sat a smaller person strapped to a wheelchair with a black bag over his head. Bumblebee looked closer at the smaller human's attire. He'd recognized those grey shirts anywhere.

 **"Jack!"**

The tall men turned the chair to face Bumblebee and stood behind it. Bumblebee armed his wrist blaster and pointed it at him. The tall man drew a pistol and put it to Jack's head.

 **"Get away from him!"**

"Lower your weapon. I've seen the damage it can do. You won't be able to harm me without harming Jackson here."

Bumblebee looked on with anger in his optics, but reluctantly disarmed his blaster.

"At first, I thought you were some kind of weapon created by the B.S.A.A., but now I believe that is not the case. And judging from your very angry expression, I'm beginning to see that you have a mind of your own. May I ask what your connection with the boy is?"

 **"Frag off, creepy!"**

Bumblebee then noticed the blood on Jack's shirt and that he wasn't moving.

 **"Jack, are you okay? Jack?! It's me, Bumblebee!"**

The tall man smiled, sadism ever so present that it would make Airachnid uncomfortable.

"I'm afraid Mr. Darby is incapacitated for the moment, Mr. Bumblebee."

The scout's optics widened.

 **"You can understand me?"**

"Not a talent I was aware of, being able to understand beeps and clicks."

 **"Then understand this, give us back our friend!"**

"Friend, is he? Well, the boy grows more interesting as time moves on."

 **"I mean it! I'm not leaving here without Jack!"**

The tall man looked at Bumblebee, clearly weighing his options. He moved his face closer to Jack and began saying something in his ear. Bumblebee was able to listen, however.

"Don't think we're going to forget about you, Jackson. We still have a need for you. I'll leave you with your unusual friend for now. But never forget that from this day forward, _you are property of Umbrella_."

His words filled Bumblebee with intense anger.

"I'll see you soon, boy."

The tall man kicked the wheelchair in Bumblebee's direction, rolling it forward with surprising speed. The scout managed to catch it, but let go of the train in the process. Bumblebee armed his blaster and aimed it at the train, but it was had already gone too far down the tunnel. He stared down the pathway for a moment, still thinking about what the creepy tall man had said to Jack. Deciding to let it go for now, Bumblebee turned his attention to his rescued friend. He broke away the metal restraints with ease.

 **"It's alright, Jack. We're getting you out of here."**

Bumblebee pulled off the black bag and recoiled with absolute shock.

 **"Jack...no."**

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Bulkhead learned about the escape train and headed there in the hopes of finding Bumblebee or Jack. His injuries were still throbbing as he drove down the tunnel. Suddenly, he saw Bumblebee hunched over with his back to him. Upon closer inspection, he picked up Jack's heat signature. He quickly transformed and ran to Bumblebee triumphantly.

"Hey, you found'em!"

Bumblebee didn't respond, but Bulkhead didn't pay it any mind or notice anything off about Jack.

"Ratchet, send a bridge. We got Jack! Mission Accomplished!"

Bulkhead laughed and looked back over to Bumblebee. That's when he realized that something was wrong.

"What's up, Bee?"

The scout looked over his shoulder with heavy sadness in his optics. Bulkhead began to worry.

 **"Bulkhead...Look what they did to Jack!"**

He showed Bulkhead the teen and the Wrecker pulled away at the sight of him. Not even a full day with Umbrella and Jack was already not the same.

"Aw no...Jack..." He said with a gasp.

He felt his rage build up and he punched a hole into the wall next to him.

"SCRAP! We're too late!"

Bulkhead didn't want to look again, but he forced himself to. His rage with replaced with guilt. The groundbridge opened behind them.

"C-Come on Jack, we're takin' you home." His voice sounded close to breaking as he took Jack from Bumblebee and held him protectively.

The pair walked through the groundbridge with their helms held low.

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When the two walked through the bridge with their sad expressions, June knew something was wrong. Bulkhead had him in his servos, seemingly trying to shield him from everyone.

"Is he okay, Bulkhead?" She asked nervously.

He looked away.

"He's alive...but..."

June felt her heart sink. What did they do to her son?

"Over here, Bulkhead."

Ratchet directed Bulkhead to a human berth. He slowly walked over, trying his best not to look at the worried faces of the others. Bumblebee took a seat against the wall, keeping both optics on Raf. Bulkhead set Jack down on the berth and quickly walked over to Miko. He picked her up and held her protectively to his spark chamber.

"Bulkhead?"

"I'm sorry, Miko."

"Primus." Everyone heard the shocked Ratchet say.

June, Jill, and Arcee ran to Jack's berth and immediately hated what they saw. Arcee stopped dead in her tracks, covering her mouth in shock. Jill backed away, fighting to hold back tears.

"Those bastards."

She slammed the bottom of her fist against the wall.

"Those Bastards!"

June approached her son slowly, looking at the bloody bandage he was wearing. She didn't want to look, but she needed to know if it was what she feared. She reached for the concave bandage. As she lifted it up, she averted her eyes. She shut them tightly, wanting to hold onto the hope that it wasn't what it looked like a little longer. But when she finally let herself see it, reality destroyed her hopes. She choked on her own gasps as tears flowed down her cheek. June held him, burying her head into his chest.

"Those monsters...they mutilated my son."

Jill placed her hands on her shoulders to try and comfort her, giving her a good view of it for herself. Jack's features always favored June's, none more so than his blue eyes. She herself got them from her loving grandfather and she passed them down to her son. She had always hoped that his children would have them as well. But now, where his right eye should be, only a empty and bloody socket remained. Just like Wesker said to him on the train, it was now property of Umbrella.

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 **I hate myself for this.**

 **So now we know what Umbrella did to Jack. Doesn't look like they're done with him either. Writing the battles between these last three chapters was not easy. And I'm gonna have more to write, unfortunately for me. Ah, tough it up ya' big wuss. (smacks self) So, I may have retconned chapter 9 by changing to bullet train into just a train because I wasn't sure if Bumblebee could catch up to one. Also, I forgot to write about Jill's knife, sorry about that. The creatures that attacked the Tyrant from the crate are called Hunters. I remember when I first ran into them in the first game. Perfectly good shorts, ruined. How do you guys think Optimus is gonna react when he sees what Umbrella did to Jack? And to my Resident Evil players, which was the most hated enemy of the games for you? Mine were the Crimson Heads. I hated running past the dead zombies, wondering when one of them was gonna get up and chase me around the mansion. And I hated having to refill my canteen to burn the corpses. My favorite, of course, was Lisa Trevor. Her story was so tragic, and hearing her shifting around always put me on edge. Anyway, Team Prime decides what to do about Umbrella in the next chapter. Rest in Peace George Carlin and Monty Oum.**


	12. Chapter 12

Optimus Prime was already in low spirits, having done what he had earlier. When he heard the tone of Ratchet's voice informing him that Jackson was found, he knew something had happened to him. Chris was forcing an employee to access a terminal, gathering whatever intel he could. Once he was done, he let the employee go. Not an act of mercy on his part, considering the employee's fate if Umbrella learned of his betrayal. Unfortunately for him, neither Chris nor Optimus had any mercy left to show him.

"Let's go, Prime."

"Ratchet, bridge us back."

 _"Yes, Optimus."_

There it was again, the sound of sorrow in the medic's voice. Optimus felt dread in his spark of whatever was waiting for him. If they had brought any harm to Jackson, the Prime wasn't sure if what he would do next would allow him to keep calling himself a Prime. The ground bridge opened in front of them and the two walked through. When they both entered the main hall of the base, the atmosphere let the Autobot leader know just how bad it was.

All optics were on him, anticipating with worry of what his reaction would be. Arcee was the only Autobot looking away, as if trying to hide herself from Optimus. This was not a good sign. She'd only done such a thing when she felt that she had failed him. Ratchet walked up to Optimus looking the same as he did the day they were forced to leave Cybertron.

"Optimus, please hold on..."

"Where is he?" He cut Ratchet off.

The medic paused for a moment, which allowed Optimus to hear the sound of June crying. Pain shot through his frame at the hurtful sound. He braced himself for the worst.

"Over there."

He walked over to where June was sitting, obscuring his view of Jackson. Jill was by her side, comforting her to the best of her abilities. The agent looked behind her, eyes wet with sadness but face hardened with anger. He managed to get a good look at Jackson and saw the blood stained bandage over his eye. He didn't need to see under it to know that there was nothing beneath.

The sound of metal pressing against metal was suddenly heard. It was coming from Optimus' servos, balled so tightly that it was beginning to cause minor damage. Optimus felt something he didn't feel often, anger. Such anger he had only felt in the worst of situations, when the Decepticons committed their first act of war on Cybertron and took the lives of many innocents, when Megatron built Kaon over Vector Sigma, when he had brought his war mongering ways to Earth and planned to eradicate it's people, when he desecrated the remains of his own allies as well as the Autobots for his army, and now for what Umbrella had done to Jackson. Such feelings were unbecoming of a Prime, but Optimus was beyond angry at this point. What he felt wasn't just anger, it was rage. He wasn't aware of the looks he was receiving from the others. Those who knew him had never seen such an expression on his face before, not even Ratchet who remembered when he was still Orion Pax. All Optimus could think about was the faceless humans harming Jack, him screaming in pain as they removed his eye, begging for them to stop. By now, his metal teeth were bared and his rage had turned into hate. How he wanted to go back into that facility and cleanse this little blue planet of all things Umbrella.

June halted her sobs to look back at the Prime. The sight of her ceased his rage. She was so...broken. Never before had he'd seen such sadness upon a human, certainly not one he had come to know personally. Now his rage was replaced with sorrow. She was as much a victim as Jack was, seeing the person she loved the most with such harm inflicted upon him. He'd let her down, he'd let them down, and he felt weak because of it. The way she looked at him, it was almost as if she was waiting for reassurance. But the Prime was unable to give her the hope she needed, not yet.

"Ratchet?"

"Optimus?"

"I must speak with you, old friend, alone."

Optimus looked at Jackson again, letting the image burn into his memory. He couldn't allow himself to forget how he looked at this moment. Umbrella was never going to hurt him again. Optimus walked away from the medbay, much to June's disappointment, and proceeded down the hall. Ratchet followed behind him reluctantly, unsure of what he was thinking. Chris hadn't been able to see what became of Jackson until now. When he saw the teen, he looked away immediately.

"Jesus Christ." He said to himself in horror.

No matter how many times he'd seen it, sometimes to people younger than Jackson, Umbrella never ceased to shock him. He didn't deserve this, his mother didn't deserve this, Optimus didn't deserve this.

"Goddamn you, Umbrella." He said as he turned his back to Jackson.

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The Prime and medic walked into an empty storage room, Optimus closing the entrance so they could speak in private. Ratchet was concerned at the nature of Optimus' expression. It was angry, of course, but also conflicted, indecisive.

"I'm going to do everything I can for him, Optimus. But he needs a real doctor and June is far too emotional to properly tend to his wound."

Optimus said nothing.

"Agent Valentine wishes to get in contact with a medic from the B.S.A.A. and bridge her here."

"Do what must be done, old friend."

Ratchet had never seen Optimus like this, even before he became a Prime. He sounded defeated, broken, weak.

"Ratchet?"

"What is it, Optimus?"

"You are my oldest friend, since my days as Orion Pax."

"Yes I am, Optimus."

"I trust your judgement more than anyone."

"Rightfully so."

"Ratchet...today, I took human lives, many human lives."

Ratchet was stunned into silence, unable to process what he had just heard. Optimus had always been adamant against taking human lives, even M.E.C.H.

"Optimus."

"The first instance was not intentional...I...forgot that I was on Earth, under attack from humans and not Decepticons. My actions were purely a reaction without intent."

"...And the other instance?"

Optimus paused.

"Mercy."

Ratchet was taken back by this answer.

"What?"

"Ratchet...I saw them...human test subjects."

Ratchet felt his spark falter for a second.

"From the ground to the ceiling...with no space in between them, the walls were lined with pods. In each of them, a human frozen in slumber."

Ratchet didn't want Optimus to continue, but he didn't stop him.

"They were infected with one of many viruses and kept in cryostasis to keep them from mutating. Human beings, imprisoned in their own bodies."

Ratchet looked away, trying his hardest not to envision it.

"Primus."

"Indeed, old friend. I...could not allow them to remain imprisoned any longer. I set them free the only way I knew how."

"I...I see."

"Do you believe that my actions were wrong, Ratchet?"

He took a moment to think, remembering the creature that came through the ground bridge with Arcee.

"No, Optimus. I don't believe so."

Optimus grunted to himself in a thought.

"I know that I should not ask you this, but what do think should be our next course of action?"

The answer was too obvious.

"Take down Umbrella, the same as M.E.C.H. and the Decepticons. Jack and Nurse Darby will never be safe until we do."

"But how do we go about doing that if human government is possibly protecting them?"

Ratchet didn't have an answer for that.

"What I am asking, old friend, is that if we go after Umbrella, should we take the final step in assuring that they will not rise again? Not just bring them down, but take them out."

Now Ratchet understood Optimus' inner conflict. He had to think about his answer again.

"Come with me, Optimus. There's something you need to see."

Ratchet opened the door to the storage room and lead Optimus out. They walked into another storage room, also closed off. It was empty inside, except for a white sheet draped over an unknown object. Ratchet walked over to it and removed the sheet. Optimus was completely taken back by what was underneath it. It was the creature that Arcee had killed.

"This hitched a ride on Arcee's back when she came through the ground bridge. You saw that one of her winglets was missing, this was the thing that removed it along with several others."

Ratchet looked at Optimus who was in a state of visual disbelief.

"I was told by Agent Valentine that I should incinerate it, but I felt that you needed to see it for yourself. When it came through the bridge, it went straight for the humans the moment it knew that they were there. Agent Valentine refers to it as a Licker Beta...Optimus...this _thing_...used to be human."

Optimus looked into Ratchet with disbelieving horror.

"Impossible."

"I thought so too, at first. But then I analyzed it before bringing it back here. It's barely there, but it does indeed have the faintest amount of human DNA..."

Optimus stared at the headless creature, not knowing what to make of it.

"Optimus, this is what Umbrella does. Those humans you found, this could have been their fate. And this is only one of the things they can do to a human, one of the lesser things, according to Valentine."

"This...this could have been Jackson?"

Ratchet thought the same thing when he learned of it from Jill, the possibility horrified him beyond what he thought was possible.

"Yes Optimus, Jackson, June, Miko, Rafael...humans. It pains me to say this, but the loss of his eye was merciful compared to becoming a creature such as this. We were just fortunate enough that Bumblebee and Bulkhead found him before they could harm him any further."

Optimus was quiet again, thinking to himself as far as Ratchet could see.

"They will not. I now know what must be done."

"Are you certain, Optimus? That is a path you have long avoided."

"There is no other choice, my friend."

"Then I walk that path with you...And if Primus judges us for what we do, so be it. I will gladly condemn myself to put an end to horrors such as this."

"As will I, old friend."

Optimus then shifted his servo into his blaster. He took aim at the deceased creature before him. Blaster fire could be heard all the way to the main hall. He fired several blasts until there was only a charred stain on the ground. He shifted his blaster back and walked to the entrance.

"If we are going to destroy Umbrella, then we will need to work alongside the B.S.A.A. I am authorizing them complete access to Outpost Omega One."

"Understood, Optimus."

The two left the storage room and began walking back to the main hall.

"Can we do anything about Jackson's eye?"

"Optimus, there is no eye left to do anything for."

"Is it possible for him to receive a cybernetic implant?"

"A replacement optic? Perhaps back on Cybertron. But with what little resources and materials we have, even replacing Arcee's winglet will be difficult. Creating a human sized Cybertronian optic for Jack, I'm afraid we don't have the necessary components."

Optimus sighed.

"I see. And we are certain that his injury was the extent of Umbrella's actions towards him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did they...administer another virus to Jackson?"

Ratchet mentally berated himself.

"I...have not checked."

Optimus was clearly not happy about that.

"He shows no signs of change and Agent Valentine assures me that any virus would have taken effect by now. I was going to take a blood sample the moment he was returned, but once I saw the injury, I was unwilling to risk anymore blood loss. I didn't want to poke around his injury for a blood sample either. I know it's foolish to assume, but he doesn't appear to be infected with any virus."

"Still, keep close watch over him."

"Of course, Optimus. He was already administered the vaccine, just in case. I am currently in the process of figuring out a way to replicate the second."

"Thank you, Ratchet."

As they neared the end of the storage hall, Optimus and Ratchet heard the sounds of gunfire coming from the one of the other rooms.

"What in the name of Primus is going on in there?" Ratchet asked.

"I will go check. Tell Agent Valentine to contact her medic. She is to be bridged to base as soon as possible."

"I'll do that, Optimus."

"Ratchet, do what can for Jackson. Don't give up on him yet."

"I won't, Optimus."

Ratchet walked on before stopping to say one last thing.

"I never cared for humans much, but I care for the children and for June. They are enough to show me the good in humanity...I won't give up on humans Optimus, not because of the actions of Umbrella."

With that, Ratchet left Optimus alone. The medic was right, the actions of Umbrella did not reflect the actions of all mankind, just as the Decepticons did not reflect on all Cybetronians. Team Prime's human companions were all Autobots at heart. Silas, M.E.C.H., Umbrella, and the unknown person who took Jackson's eye from him, they were human Decepticons, nothing more. And just like all Decepticons, the Autobots had to take them down by any means necessary.

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Optimus walked into the storage to find Agent Fowler emptying his gun into stacks of wooden boards left over from the silo's previous occupants.

"Agent Fowler!" Optimus yelled over the loud shooting.

Fowler didn't stop until his gun became empty.

"What are you doing?"

Fowler looked back at the Prime, surprised to see him in the room. Optimus saw that he wasn't happy in the slightest. The agent holstered his weapon and looked Optimus in his optics.

"What do you see when you look at me, Prime?"

Optimus wasn't sure what Fowler was asking him.

"I do not..."

"Do you see the same government liaison you've been dealing with since you first came to this rock, the overworked hothead who's always puttin' his foot up your asses every time you cause property damage and nearly blow your cover?"

Fowler waited for the Prime to answer, which was met with silence.

"Or do you look at me and see the same son of a bitch that did that to Jack?"

It was at this point that Optimus realized that Fowler was also conflicted by today's events. Fowler turned his back to Optimus, putting his hand on his head. He seemed to have trouble keeping still. Optimus could here him breathing harder than normal.

"I didn't know, Prime. They didn't tell me anything about what happened in Raccoon City. All they said was that it had to be done. And me, being the good little company man that I am, I didn't question it."

Fowler began pacing back and forth, sweat building up on his head and neck.

"You wanna keep me from going back to D.C. I'm not even sure that I wanna go back. I mean, who do I trust, Prime?! My colleagues, my superiors, the President?! I have no idea who knows what!"

Now his stress levels were rising, causing Optimus to worry.

"And the worst part is, I can't even get the truth outta them! If I go back and start askin' questions about Umbrella and Raccoon City, you may never hear from again! It's like everything I thought I stood for is a lie!"

"Agent Fowler!"

Fowler stopped himself, his breathing reaching alarming levels.

"Calm yourself. I fear risk to your health if you do not."

Fowler took a deep breath before covering his face with his hands. He ran them both down past his chin in an effort to collect himself.

"Poor June is out there crying by her son's side...He's just a kid...and somebody..."

Fowler's face was telling enough that he was no threat to the mother and son for Optimus.

"I wanna help, Prime. I wanna help you put an end to those bastards...I can't let them get away with what happened in Raccoon City, for what they did to Jack...So here's what I'm gonna do."

Optimus listened closely.

"I'm gonna head back to D.C. and I'm gonna act like this never happened. I'm not gonna say anything to anyone about Umbrella or anything that has to do with'em. I'm just gonna go about my business and act like nothin's changed. But I'm gonna dig around until I find the truth. I'm gonna find out who's who in my organization and just how deep Umbrella's roots go. And whatever I find, I'm handin' over to you. These people gotta fall, Optimus. I know you're not about killin' humans and if you need me to arrange a crew to get rid of them quietly, I can do that. But you gotta find'em and drag'em out for me to see. If I suddenly stop comin' around, then I've been found out. If that happens, you and the 'Bots gotta find a new place to rest your heads. I can't bury my head in the sand on this. I just can't do it...Can I count on you, Optimus?"

Optimus didn't doubt that the agent was telling the truth.

"As always, Agent Fowler."

"Thank you, Optimus."

Optimus nodded back to Fowler and allowed him to walk ahead back to the main hall. He was not the enemy, Umbrella was. True, he played the smallest part of the cover up of Raccoon City's destruction by never revealing the truth. But even without his knowledge of what had really happened, he could have risked losing his job, being brought up on charges, or worse. If Team Prime was going to stop Umbrella once and for all, they were going to need his help.

The pair entered the main hall together where the rest of the group was waiting. June was still by Jack's side, although she had fallen asleep in her chair. Both Rafael and Miko were also asleep on the couch that they regularly used. Everyone else was awake and alert. Fowler was seen before Optimus and was not receiving a particularly warm welcome from the Autobots. Bulkhead was glaring at him from under the living area, Bumblebee looking over his shoulder as he sat behind the couch where his charge was resting. Arcee casted a sideways glance his way for a brief moment. Optimus could see the distrust in her optics. Ratchet seemed to be ignoring him for the most part, but clearly uncomfortable with his presence.

"Optimus, sir."

Optimus looked down to see Jill Valentine at his pede.

"I've contacted one of the medics from my team and told her to find somewhere secluded. She should be calling back shortly. Are you sure you want to bring her here?"

"Can she help Jackson?"

"No one I trust more with the job."

"Then I will trust her as well, Agent Valentine."

Jill nodded in affirmation and walked back to the sleeping June and Jackson, acting as their protector while they slept.

"Ratchet, you may end the lockdown of the base."

Ratchet looked at Optimus puzzled.

"But what about Agent Fowler?" He cast a not too kind look at Fowler as he said his name.

"We have no reason to detain him any longer."

None of the Autobots were happy to hear that and protested in their own way.

"What?! We can't let'em go!" Bulkhead claimed quite loudly.

 **"He's gonna run back and tell his bosses about June and Jack!"** Bumblebee added as he walked to the rails

"Optimus, Agent Fowler may very well answer to someone in Umbrella, even if he doesn't know it." Ratchet warned.

"He's right, we can't trust him. He lied to you once already, Sir. Who knows what other secrets he's keeping."

Optimus tried to think of the best way to reason with his team. Agent Fowler stepped forward and stood before all of them.

"Then kill me."

The Autobots were taken back by his response.

"If you think I'm a danger to June and Jackson, then just deal with me right now. I wouldn't blame you if you did. It's what I'd do."

They all looked to Optimus for an answer. He wasn't sure if they were waiting for him to tell them what to do, or hoping to allow them to oblige Fowler.

"That will not be necessary, Agent Fowler."

"Sir." Arcee said in protest.

"Arcee, Agent Fowler is not the one responsible for what happened to Jackson. If fact, none of us are as exposed to Umbrella as he is."

Confusion came upon the 'Bot's faces.

"Agent Fowler was merely following orders to conceal the nature of Raccoon City's destruction, but he was not aware of what had happened in the city or of those responsible for it. He has agreed to risk his own safety to learn just how closely Umbrella works with the government. Should he be found out..."

"Then my bosses will hand me over to Umbrella on a silver platter. If you ever see me again, I won't be anything you could recognize."

That seemed to change their opinion on Fowler at least a little, but it wasn't enough to convince them. Arcee walked away from the beam she was leaning up against and stood over Fowler at threatening as possible.

"And what if he's lying? What if he does go back to his superiors? What if he works for Umbrella?"

Of course Arcee was going to stand her ground. It was her partner that had suffered at the hands of Umbrella. Fowler looked over to the sleeping Jackson, still unable to believe that someone would do such a thing.

"Everything I've ever done was to protect the citizens of this country."

He looked back to Arcee who still held her distrustful optics on Fowler.

"My loyalties are to my country and to humankind. If you think that I can look at what they did to Jack or that thing that came with you through the ground bridge and say that they were both for the greater good, then you haven't been paying attention to anything I've been on your asses about since we arranged this little setup. Either way, my offer still stands. Either let me go or take me out. Whatever you decide to do, you still have a mission to accomplish if you wanna protect the people from Umbrella."

He held his gaze at the domineering Arcee. She stayed in his path and neither budged for a good while. Finally, she averted her optics and walked away. She took a seat by June and Jill, watching her partner very closely. Fowler exhaled in relief and waited for confirmation that he could leave.

"Hangar access granted, Optimus." Ratchet said.

Fowler walked up the stairs and past Bumblebee, who still didn't seem too trusting of him. He saw Miko and Rafael sleeping on the couch, both huddled together closely. Even with their eyes closed, he could tell that they had both cried themselves to sleep. This only strengthened his resolve to do his part.

"Agent Fowler."

Fowler was already by the elevator when Optimus called for him. He stopped to listen.

"Protect yourself, be weary of those around you."

Fowler nodded to Prime and left the base through the elevator.

"Optimus, are you sure that was wise?" Ratchet questioned.

"I am not certain of anything, Ratchet. But I do believe that Fowler is as disgusted with this organization as we are. I trust his desire to help."

"Optimus."

Optimus turned his attention to Chris, who wasn't standing too far from Jackson.

"Ratchet says you want to form an alliance with the B.S.A.A. Me and Jill can arrange that with our third founder, but are you sure you want to reveal yourself to so many people?"

Optimus looked to his subordinates.

"I'm cool with that." Bulkhead claimed.

 **"For Raf, anything."** Bumblebee added.

"Whatever it takes, sir. I'll do it to protect Jack." Arcee stated.

"You already know where I stand on the matter, Optimus." Ratchet reminded.

Optimus looked back at Chris.

"We are willing, Agent Redfield."

"Then consider our teams aligned."

Optimus looked back to his team, Bumblebee had come down from the living area.

"Autobots, there is something we must discuss."

The team were caught off guard at the changed in Optimus' demeanor.

"You all know of my policy against taking human lives. When we first came to this planet, I had made certain that you all understood that we were its people's guests. We were not conquerors or authority of any kind. As such, we would not enforce our will upon them, most certainly not our laws or our punishment. But Umbrella poses a great threat to humankind and this planet's leadership is either unable or unwilling to bring them to justice. We must take these matters into our own servos. We must be willing to do what is necessary to ensure that another city does not suffer the same fate as Raccoon City, that humans will not continue to fall victim to Umbrella's viruses. We must take action as if they were Decepticons."

It was becoming clear what Optimus Prime was saying.

"As of this moment, I am removing our restrictions against killing human beings. If they are working for Umbrella, then they must be terminated."

No one at base protested in the slightest, not even the two agents. It was understood by everyone that this is what had to be done. If Umbrella was going to fall, the Autobots would make sure that they would not get back up.

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In the more rural part of Doolin, Ireland stood what appeared to be an old castle. It was not a well known historical castle, though it looked like it had been there for centuries. It was actually an entrance to another Umbrella facility, or more accurately, a base. No experiments were actually conducted there. It was merely a safe house for when one of the facilities had to be abandoned for any number of reasons.

In the main entrance which looked like a typical castle hall, Albert Wesker stood. He was not happy at the moment, having been forced to allow that yellow robotic being take Jackson Darby away from him. That was certainly a shock to his system, the existence of sentient mechanical beings. He had many questions of the origins of these beings, but the most pressing was how to stop them. If they were protecting Jackson Darby, he was going to need to know much more about them and how to destroy them. That's when he remembered a certain terrorist leader obsessed with technological marvels. If anyone knew of these being's existence, it was him and his followers. Of course, he did not want to form an alliance with these men, thinking very little of them.

"Russell."

The same masked agent from the facility approached Wesker.

"Captain Wesker?"

"Contact our asset. Tell her I have a job if she's interested."

"Of course, Captain."

"How goes the cleanup?"

"Aside from the loss of one Tyrant, one shipment of Hunter B.O.W.s, and several of our employees, our losses are quite minimal."

"I wouldn't call the loss of very promising subject such as Jackson Darby minimal."

"Of course not, Captain."

"I want everything moved to our Siberian base, then I want the facility completely sterilized. Leave no trace of us ever having been there."

"Already on it, Captain."

"And what of Joshua Darby, the boy's father?"

"Imprisoned as you ordered."

"His state of being?"

"Minor injuries from his interrogation, otherwise completely sound."

"I want him moved immediately, then looked after closely. Treat all his injuries and make sure that he is kept in good health. No one is to bring any harm to him. Is that in any way unclear?"

"Not at all, Captain."

"You have your orders, get them done."

"Yes, Captain."

He may not have the son, but he had plans for the father. Oh, he most certainly had plans for him.

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 **Got this up sooner than I thought. Kinda short though. So Optimus made a decision and it seems like Team Prime is behind him one hundred percent. Do you think he made the right choice? This chapter is mostly centers around Optimus and how he's dealing with what was done to Jack. Next chapter will follow the others, Jill, Arcee, and June in particular. Expect a heavy case of the feels. I wanted to make it absolutely clear where Fowler's loyalty lies. Even though he's a company man, he knows where to draw to line in his dedication to the job. Also wanted to really shine a light on how much Optimus trusts Ratchet with his personal shortcomings. If anyone was going to help him come to a decision, it was him. A few more characters are gonna show up next chapter. I'm still trying to figure out a way to work the Decepticons into the story. Anyway, peace out. Catch you next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

Cybertronians didn't dream. When they powered down for recharge, the equivalent of sleep for them, the closest they came to dreaming was memory replay. Humans sometimes replay memories in their dreams, but never in as much detail as a Cybertronian. A pleasant memory can be considered a pleasant dream, an unpleasant memory can be considered a nightmare. For Bumblebee, his processors replaying the moment he saved Jack and saw what the tall, creepy, blonde human did to him _was_ a nightmare. Scrap, it was nightmare when it had actually happened. This was why he had come out of recharge so suddenly and why he was unable to power down again.

Everyone else was in recharge or asleep. He looked around the living area where he had powered down. After everything had been settled, he found himself unwilling to leave Rafael alone. Thinking about him made powering back down impossible. Whenever he thought of Jack, he couldn't keep from envisioning Raf in his place. His spark pulsed at the terrible thought. He walked over to the couch where he and Miko fell asleep to check on him. But to his shock and worry, he was not there. The scout was a click away from panicking when he heard the soft sounds of a child's sobs coming from below. He looked over the rails and saw his charge standing by Jack. He walked down to floor level and began to approach the boy who was so focused on Jack, he didn't hear his metallic footsteps. He could see that Raf was tightly holding Jack's hand. The boy didn't turn as Bumblebee came behind him. As he got closer, the sounds of him crying was filling his spark with sadness.

 **"Raf?"**

Rafael turned around with such a pained look in his eyes. His glasses were becoming slightly fogged by his tears. The sight made Bumblebee want to cry himself if he had the capacity for it. Seeing his guardian only made Raf cry even more. He walked over to Bumblebee and embraced his leg. Bumblebee knelt down and took the boy in his servo to hold him close to his frame. As his body trembled against him, Bumblebee was reminded of just how young he really was. Because of his intelligence, it was all too easy to forget that he still was just a child.

 **"Hey, it's okay buddy."** Bumblebee said with comfort.

"It's not okay." Raf sobbed.

 **"It is. Jack's alright, see? He's in the safest place in the world."**

Raf looked behind him at his sleeping friend.

"Jack never hurt anybody. Why did they do this to him?"

He looked up to Bumblebee with eyes that pleaded for an answer. His spark was feeling as if Megatron was crushing it in his clawed servos.

 **"Because...some people aren't good like the Autobots the way you, Jack, and Miko are. Some people are like Decepticons."**

Raf rested his head against Bumblebee's leg again, the scout rubbing his back with his servo.

"I don't want Jack to suffer anymore."

 **"He won't, little buddy."**

"You'll protect him, won't you 'Bee?"

 **"We'll all protect him, Raf. We'll protect everyone. No ones gonna hurt you guys."**

Raf looked up again.

"You promise?"

 **"On my honor, Raf. I never break my promises."**

Raf continued to hug Bumblebee.

 **"When Jack wakes up, he's gonna be really scared. He's gonna need his friends to be by his side."**

"I'll stay by his side. I'll help Jack get better."

 **"I know you will Raf, you've got a big heart in that small body of yours."**

Rafael sniffled a bit and turned to look at Jackson once more.

 **"Come on, little buddy. Get some sleep."**

"I don't wanna leave Jack alone."

Bumblebee walked over to his berth and took a seat on the floor. He motioned for Rafael to sit in his lap. The boy did so, leaning back into Bumblebee.

 **"We'll watch over him together."**

The two kept there eyes and optics over Jackson. It didn't take too long before Raf began yawning with tired eyes and drifting into slumber. His eyes began to close and Bumblebee held him closer.

"I love you, Bee."

The boy's light snoring told of his sleep. The scout leaned back into the wall as he cradled the child who may as well have been his little brother.

 **"I love you too, Raf."**

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It was a new day for Team Prime, but spirits were still pretty low. Even though the Autobots came to a decision the night before, not much could be done with most of them still injured. Bumblebee and Optimus had sustained minimal damage, but Bulkhead and Arcee were in pretty rough shape. Bulkhead wasn't happy about being stuck in the med-bay, never liking when he was out of commission. This time, however, was particularly difficult. When Bulkhead had to stay in one place for too long, he had a tendency to think. And lately, he didn't like the things he was left to think about. First off, there was Jack. Bulkhead hated to look at him in the state he was in. Sure, he was fast asleep and didn't look like he was in any pain, but the bloody bandage over his eye told a different story. Everytime that medic that was sent over from the B.S.A.A. changed it, he ended up getting a good look at his bloody socket. The human body was disgusting. Seeing Jack like that made him think of Breakdown, who suffered in a similar way at the hands of M.E.C.H. As much as he didn't like the Decepticon, he didn't wish such suffering upon him. He was actually glad that Silas had the decency to shut off his pain receptors when they dissected him. He'd hoped that Umbrella did something similar for Jack, putting him under before they butchered him. But he knew that probably wasn't the case. He was most likely awake and very aware through the whole thing and screaming in pain when they cut his eye out of his head. The thought made Bulkhead want to break something, be it 'Con, Umbrella, or M.E.C.H. From there, things would get really heavy for the Wrecker. Thinking about Jack always led to him to thinking about Miko. What if it was her who was captured by Umbrella? What if they butchered her the way they did Jack? What if she lost her eye? Her big, light brown, ever so expressive eyes defiled forever at the hands of those sick humans. What if she had been bit by a zombie and no one was there to cure her? Bulkhead thanked Primus that he didn't see his old pal Cliffjumper the way Arcee did in that energon mine. He wouldn't have been able to handle it. With that in mind, he knew he couldn't handle seeing Miko the same way. He wouldn't be able to do it, to put her down and set her free. These thoughts were causing Bulkhead to tighten his fist. What if she turned into something else entirely, like those things he found in that crate, or that thing that followed Arcee through the ground bridge. It was human according to Jill Valentine. Maybe those bipedal monsters were once human also. Could the virus turn Miko into that? What would Bulkhead do if it did? What if he saw Miko, but she didn't even look like her anymore? What if she wasn't human anymore? What if his best friend, his energetic little rock star was taken from him forever, and in her place was something that didn't resemble anything human at all? What if it wanted to hurt him like that monster he and Bumblebee fought? Would he defend himself, or would he just allow her to destroy him? Without even realizing it, Bulkhead had raised his servo over his head. The sound a metal crashing to the ground made him realize that he had just smashed another one of Ratchet's tools.

"Whoah! Easy there, big guy." Came from the medic that was currently changing Jack's bandage.

"Sorry...uh..."

"Rebecca, it's Rebecca Chambers."

"Right, sorry Rebecca." He said with a sense of embarrassment.

Rebecca was younger than Jill and Chris. Apparently, she was a survivor of the incident that led to the outbreak in Jack's hometown. Her initial reaction to the Autobots was what had been expected, shock and confusion. After that, she was pretty quiet and shy. Now it seemed that after only one night, she had already gotten used to them. Guess it was easy to deal with the unusual when you dealt with monsters for a living. Now she was pretty upbeat and energetic, the only one at the base to feel as such. Bulkhead decided that he liked her. Her positivity was a nice change from all the gloominess that was all over the base. Even Miko was down in the dumps. At the moment, she wasn't around, which worried him.

"Hey, thanks for takin' care of Jack."

"No problem, Big Green."

She finished cleaning Jacks wound and replaced the bandage.

"He gonna wake up anytime soon."

"Well, he shouldn't have a reason not to. He doesn't have any kind of bacterial infection and his blood level is okay."

"That's good to hear."

"It's gonna be pretty intense when he does though, when he remembers what happened to him."

She injected him with some sort of painkiller.

"When his mother comes back, remind her to change his bandage in an hour if I'm not around. And keep a close eye of him, he's gonna need all the help he can get."

"Will do, Rebecca."

Rebecca smiled and left to wash up. As she did, Ratchet and Jill came into the med bay.

"How ya feelin', Bulk?" The agent asked as she went to Jack.

"Like scrap." He replied jokingly, even though it wasn't a lie.

"Bulkhead!" Ratchet scolded as he noticed the broken tool. "I _needed_ that!"

Bulkhead didn't pay him any mind as he watched Jill examine Jack's being. He was very grateful to have her and her people at the base. Team Prime was gonna need their help. Ratchet examined Bulkhead's injuries, getting a few winces and grunts in response.

"What in Primus did this to you anyway?"

Bulkhead thought about large humanoid that beat him into junk and nearly tore him into scrap.

"Hey, Jill?"

Jill looked over her shoulder from Jack's berth, still standing guard over him.

"Yes?"

"What were those things me and 'Bee saw yesterday called again?"

"Tyrants, mass produced Bio Organic Weapons."

"And what about those green things I found in the crate?"

"Those were Hunters. Same as the Tyrants, mass produced B.O.W.s."

Bulkhead shuddered at the thought of more of those things existing, knowing he'd have to deal with the Tyrants again somewhere down the line.

"Were they human?"

Jill turned around completely to look at Bulkhead.

"Like those things you and 'Cee went up against?"

Jill sighed before she gave an answer.

"The Hunters, no. They're created from the embryo of a human, mixed with the DNA of a reptile or amphibian, then injected with the T-Virus. The Tyrant on the other hand, was a human."

Bulkhead looked to Jack.

"So Jack could've become a big, gray, hairless, monster with claws?"

"Possibly, one in ten million, but possibly. The Tyrant is a step in the direction that Umbrella is trying to go. A powerful bio-weapon that can be controlled, so long as it doesn't take too much damage. You and Bumblebee already saw what happens when it does."

"Wait, so that thing wasn't just some mindless monster?"

"It didn't have a will of it's own, but it wasn't mindless. Tyrants are basically supersoldiers, able to withstand conventional weaponry and engage human beings in combat. They can be programmed to carry out missions with a specific set of parameters. They're extremely hard to kill, as you saw for yourself. If it sustains enough damage, however, it mutates into a larger creature and ignores it's programming, pretty much becoming another vicious predator. The one you faced was probably fitted with some sort of collar. It acts as a limiter to keep it's mutation in check."

This only caused the Wrecker to worry even more. It was bad enough that the T-Virus could turn humans into feral creatures with a desire to kill anything that moves. But there was always a slight chance of them becoming slaves to Umbrella, capable of destroying whole armies.

"I still can't believe that such a monster was able to damage you like this, Bulkhead." Said Ratchet as he continued to repair one of his patient's gashes.

"Your size worked in your favor, Bulk. If me and Arcee ran into one of them in Tokyo, I don't know if we would've been able to stop it." Jill commented.

As soon as Jill said that, Bulkhead felt his frame go cold. He hadn't even thought about that. The facility that Arcee and Jill had taken was located in Tokyo, Miko's city. All this time, she had been living with all manner of creatures beneath her. It could have just as easily been her home that was hit with the virus six years ago. It was still a possibility now. Miko may have been safe here in Jasper, but what about her parents? What would happen to Miko if she lost her home and her family?

"What do you think you're doing?" The medic asked as Bulkhead attempted to leave his care.

"I gotta find Miko."

"Miko is alright, you need to rest."

"That's what you said about Jack and now he's only got one eye!" Bulkhead spat back.

Guilt spread across both their faces, Bulkhead for his words and Ratchet for his actions.

"Doc, I didn't mean..."

"Just go, Bulkhead. Go see if Miko is okay."

Bulkhead knew that what he said hurt Ratchet, but he needed to see Miko. He left the med-bay, leaving Ratchet alone with Jill and Jack.

"Doctor?" Jill asked worryingly.

"Maybe...maybe we could have dealt with the Decepticons that day...without Arcee."

Ratchet knew that by the time they had finished their mission, it had already been too late. But he still was the one that insisted she be part of the attack on Megatron and his weapon. The Autobots had stopped Megatron without her before, when she and Cliffjumper were still on Cybertron. They could have done so again. It was his fault that Jack was captured, was missing an eye, and in all likelihood, traumatized beyond repair.

"Don't do that yourself, Doctor."

Ratchet looked to Jill, who was back to guarding Jackson.

"I could've kept a closer watch over the both of them, Arcee could've refused to leave him alone, Bumblebee could've saved him sooner, and you could've done whatever you did without Arcee's help. Alot of ' _could haves_ ' could've changed everything, or nothing. The blame doesn't fall on us, it falls on Umbrella."

Her words had spared Ratchet some guilt.

"Perhaps you're right, Agent Valentine. But I don't believe that you completely absolve yourself of guilt anymore than I do, justified or not."

"No, I don't. But as angry as I am at myself, I'm twice at angry at them...If Jack is still anything like my little brave one six years ago, he wouldn't blame either of us in the slightest."

Ratchet stopped for a moment and thought of Orion Pax. Had it been him in this situation, he would not have placed the blame on either of them. Jack did remind him of his old friend from time to time. He wouldn't have blamed them either.

"No, no he wouldn't."

"He's a good kid."

"Yes he is, Agent Valentine, yes he is."

"Ratchet?"

"Yes?"

"You can call me Jill."

"Alright. Thank you Jill, for your kindness."

Jill nodded and turned back to Jackson. Ratchet left the med-bay to continue working on the vaccine. He didn't want anyone else to suffer like the poor souls in Raccoon City. His work would be one step closer to ensure that they wouldn't.

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Miko was alone in the same storage room where Fowler and Optimus had talked the day before. Because she could not reach the control panel, the door was left open. She was facing the wood panels that Fowler had been using for target practice. In her hand was a large pistol. She had found it in the side panel of the vehicle that Jill and Chris drove into the base. She fiddled with it cautiously as to not accidentally shoot something while trying to get a feel for it. One might think that she was a foolish kid playing with a gun, but the angry look in her eyes betrayed that notion. She had already removed the magazine, but was having trouble pulling back the slide to eject the round in the chamber.

"C'mon, you stupid..."

"What are you doing?" A recognizable voice came from behind her with noticeable harshness in it.

She quickly turned around, hiding the gun behind her back, and saw Bulkhead looking at her disapprovingly.

"Bulk! Uh-What are you doing out of the med bay?" She replied in a poor attempt to turn the tables on him.

"Gettin' some exercise. What are you hidin' behind your back?"

"I-I don't know what your talkin' about?"

"Hand it over Miko, now."

Miko sighed, fully aware of what was to come. She held out the high caliber pistol for Bulkhead to take. He pulled back in anger before quickly taking it from her and crushing it between two digits.

"Bulkhead! I-I...That wasn't mine!"

"Where did you get it?!"

Bulkhead was furious, but also extremely worried. Miko looked down, feeling very little to her guardian.

"I found it in Jill's truck."

"Miko, what were you thinking?!"

"I-I was just..."

Miko couldn't find her voice, having never been on the receiving end of Bulkheads anger.

"This isn't a game!"

"I know that." She mumbled.

"Miko, guns aren't toys! You could've really hurt yourself or worse! For once, think before you do something reckless!"

"STOP YELLING AT ME LIKE YOU'RE JACK! I'M DOING THIS FOR HIM!"

Bulkhead stood completely straight when Miko exploded at him. Tears had already begun to build up in her eyes.

"I'm not stupid, okay! I know this isn't a video game or an episode of The Walking Dead!"

She started crying which earned her a guilty look from Bulkhead.

"And I wasn't playing with it, I was practicing so I could shoot the guy that hurt Jack right between his fragging eyes."

Miko rubbed her arm over her face to wipe her tears away. Bulkhead took a step forward, causing her to turn her back to him.

"Miko, I..."

"Leave me alone, Bulkhead."

Bulkhead didn't say anything, nor did he leave.

"No."

Miko looked back to her BFF with a sad but angry look on her face. Bulkhead was already sitting up against the wall. He motioned for her to sit next to him.

"C'mon Miko, let's talk."

She sniffed back before doing what Bulkhead said and took a seat by his side. She sat with her arms over her knees, looking at the floor instead of Bulkhead. Neither said a thing for a good minute and a half. Miko was just being Miko, Bulkhead was trying to figure out what to say. He did eventually break the silence.

"I hate them for what they did to Jack too, Miko."

Miko still said nothing.

"I hate what they did to Raccoon City. I hate that Optimus has gotta break his code to make sure they don't hurt no one else. He practically lived by that code and now he's gotta go against it because Umbrella is so fraggin' evil."

Miko only replied with a few low sobs.

"And I hate seein' you like this, Miko. The worst thing they could do is hurt you in anyway, even this way."

She finally looked up at him, biting her bottom lip to keep her crying in check.

"C'mon, Miko. You never have to hide it from me."

Her dam broke and she grabbed onto Bulkhead's digit which he had lowered for just that purpose. Every sob that came from her was like Breakdown's hammer to his spark chamber. He reached over with his other servo to rub her back, hoping it would calm her down.

"I Hate Them!"

Her words carried the very hatred she spoke of.

"I Hate Them All!

Miko couldn't control what she felt and she needed to let it all out.

"They hurt my friend. They destroyed his home. One of their monsters almost killed you."

She looked up at Bulkhead. No longer were her eyes dripping with anger. Bulkhead instead saw something he'd never thought he'd see from Miko, fear.

"I'm scared, Bulkhead."

In pure reaction, Bulkhead lifted her up and held her to his spark chamber. He continued to rub her back, but it didn't stop her crying.

"I know you're scared, Miko. I'm scared too."

Miko looked up and saw from his expression that he was indeed scared.

"I don't want what happened to Jack to happen to you."

Miko looked back down.

"They had a lab in Tokyo, my home."

Her voice had become raspy from her crying.

"My parents are still out there, they're not safe. What if the virus gets out again and turns everyone I know back home into that thing that came through the ground bridge?"

"We won't let that happen, Miko. We're gonna stop them before they destroy another city."

Miko was quiet again, she had begun to calm down.

"This is _your_ world, Miko. I already lost my home because some lunatic destroyed it. I'm not gonna sit on my fat tires while another one does the same to yours. You heard Optimus. It's open season on Umbrella and I ain't gonna rest until every one of them is gone from this planet and everyone on it is safe.

Miko looked up again, this time with some hope in her eyes.

"And when Jackie comes back, we're gonna throw Umbrella a Wrecker's party. Any monster that comes at us is getting blown to Unicron's pit."

Miko stood up in Bulkhead's servo and hugged his chassis.

"I can't lose you, Bulk."

As if shielding her from the world, he covered her with his other servo.

"You couldn't lose me if you tried, Miko. I'm a big, green, Autobot who loves to blast heavy metal...Besides, I already told you. Hurting you is the worst thing someone could do. Nothing would hurt you more than me gettin' offlined out there. I never hurt you before Miko and I ain't gonna. I promise."

Miko hugged Bulkhead the tiniest bit tighter.

"When you find the guy who did that to Jack..."

She looked up once more. She still had tears in here eyes, but also the mischievous smile she was known for.

"You tell'em Miko Nakedai sent you."

Bulkhead smiled back at her.

"You got it, Miko."

The remained as they were in the storage room. It was the calm before the storm and peaceful moments like this were not going to come often.

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Chris didn't have a wife, he didn't have kids, he wanted neither. It wasn't out of fear of commitment or having to be responsible for another life. Many of his men trusted him with their lives on a daily basis, Rebecca, Piers, Sheva. He was a father to his men and he wouldn't have it any other way. What he didn't want was a wife that he would have to leave alone and unprotected every time he went out on a mission. He most definitely did not want to bring any children into a world that they would have to share with Umbrella. They wouldn't be safe and he couldn't live with that. His oldest friend, Barry Burton, was forced to do Wesker's bidding when he threatened his wife and two daughters. He was angry at his friends betrayal at first, until he put himself in Barry's shoes. He didn't know if he would have done things so differently and didn't want to. Not until this world was safe would he even think about having a family.

He leaned against the wall below the platform where the children usually resided. He watched from a distance as June Darby stayed by her son's side. The poor woman, Chris couldn't imagine what she was feeling right now. He'd seen it a thousand times. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, families torn apart by Umbrella. Too many times did he witness someone holding their loved one's corpse in their arms as their world came crashing around them. It always filled his heart with pain to see such a thing, but he thanked God everytime he felt it. He would not let himself get used to it, go numb from it. If he couldn't feel their pain, he couldn't will himself to keep fighting. He didn't want to quit his mission. In the war against Umbrella, every soldier was valuable.

Jill came from the corridor and pulled Chris aside. They went back down the hall, away from anyone who could hear them.

"What's up, Jill?"

She sighed, casting a look at June from the hall.

"You've seen Arcee anywhere?"

"The lady motorcycle? Yeah, I think she's up top. She's not lookin' to good."

"Can you blame her?"

Chris took notice of Jill's grim look.

"What goin' on, Partner?"

Jill took a deep breath, looking over to make sure that they weren't being watched.

"It's Wesker."

Chris balled his fist at the sound of that traitor's name.

"What's Wesker?"

Jill hesitated to follow up what she said.

"He's still alive, Chris. And I think he was the one who cut out Jack's eye."

Anyone else, Chris would've reprimanded them for making light of such a topic. But Jill wasn't the joking type and certainly not about Wesker. But he couldn't be alive. It wasn't possible, even with all of the things they've both seen.

"Jill, we saw him die ourselves."

"Did we?"

"The Tyrant ripped him open. No one could've survived what happened to him."

"That's not what I heard."

"Jill, you heard wrong. Albert Wesker died in that mansion. Either by the Tyrant's claw, or he was blown to hell in the explosion."

"Chris...One of the scientist dropped his name by accident. I described him and he became as white as a ghost. He begged for me to kill him."

Chris had to look into this further.

"What did he say, exactly?"

"That if Jack was taken to that facility, Wesker would have been there to guard him."

Chris was in a state of shock. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be.

"It has to be another Wesker, maybe not even connected to the one we knew."

"Maybe...But you read the profile we found in the mansion. We both know how sadistic he was. Look at Jackson and tell me that isn't something he would do."

It was, like threatening another man's family or kidnapping them for his experiments while the poor bastard was doing a job on his behalf. Chris knew Wesker all too well.

"How did that happen? How could he have survived?"

"A body double, maybe? A clone, that's not too far out of reality. It's actually more plausible than the stuff we've seen."

"I can't be...He can't be alive...Not after everything he's done."

Jill walked past Chris and stood at the end of the hallway. Chris followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at June and Jackson. She was thumbing the pistol by her side, seemingly unaware that she was doing so.

"Jill?"

She didn't respond. He stood beside, seeing what she saw.

"They're in worse trouble than we thought." He said to his partner.

"Yes."

"Arcee needs to know about this, about who we're dealing with."

With that, Jill walked away and up the stairs to the elevator, leaving Chris to watch the mother and son. It was loose logic for sure. The scientist could have meant any number of things. But even with the smallest grain on possibility, he couldn't risk the Darby's safety. They had both suffered enough. If Wesker really was alive and he was allowed to have his way, they would suffer so much more.

As he continued to watch them, he thought of the only blood tie he had in this world. For some reason, he needed to hear her voice. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number. The other line was picked up after only one ring.

"Claire, it's me Chris...No, nothings wrong. Just wanted to see how you and Sherry were doing. I'm fine...Jill's fine...Rough mission, you know?...Yeah...Claire?"

His sister was silent on the other end.

"I love you. I just wanted you to know that."

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Arcee was at the edge of the cliff with optics so full of regret. She paced back and forth, muttering to herself in Cybertronian. She stopped and looked to the pile of rocks next to her. It was Cliffjumper's grave, only his horn buried beneath the stones.

"What am I doing wrong?! You, Tailgate, Jack! Why can't I protect my partners?!"

She was crying without tears, if such a thing was possible.

"Airachnid took Tailgate and I did nothing. You got ambushed by the 'Cons and I wasn't there...All I had to do was tell Ratchet to go on without me. We didn't arrive on Earth until long after they did. They got along just fine without us before, they could've handled it without me. But no, I left Jack alone in that house and what happened? Umbrella snatched him away right from under me and when we get him back, he's missing an eye. I should've just stayed by his side. I should've protected him. I should've taken him for a ride. Something, anything but leave him. What Is Wrong With Me?!"

Arcee clutched her helm with both servos. She dropped to her knees and stared at the desert before her.

"What kind of partner am I?"

"One who's being too hard on herself."

Arcee turned around and saw a saddened Jill behind her.

"You protected him better than I ever could." She replied.

"I doubt that. June told me about that spider bitch."

She sat next to Arcee who was trying desperately not to meet her gaze.

"If it weren't for you, I would never have met Jack. And if it weren't for me, he'd still be in one piece."

"Funny, the medic seems to think the same thing about himself."

"What would Ratchet know? He had no idea of what was going on?"

"And you did?"

Arcee didn't answer. She didn't want Jill to prove her wrong, she was content with hating herself for failing Jack.

"Your partner?" Jill asked while nodding her head to the pile of stones.

"Yeah."

"And Tailgate?"

"I lost him back on Cybertron."

"I see. You know alot about loss, it seems."

"What do say they in that human sport? Three strikes, you're out?"

"Jack isn't strike three, Arcee. You're still in batter's box."

Arcee looked to Jill. She was keeping herself from looking at the femme just as Arcee was.

"Have you ever lost a partner?"

"Chris has been my only real partner. But I've lost friends, lots of friends."

Her face became downcast with regret. Arcee was more than familiar with that feeling.

"The RPD sent S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team to investigate the murders in the forest. When we lost contact with them, Alpha Team was sent in. I was just a rookie on my first real mission. I had some Army Delta Force training under my belt, but I was as green as they come. Then again, none of us were prepared for what happened out there."

The memory was clearly unpleasant to Jill, as Arcee could see from her expression.

"Two six man teams, twelve in total. Only five of us made it out. Me, Chris, Rebecca, Barry Burton, and Brad Vickers who flew us out of there before the mansion went up in smoke. We made it back to the city. We all tried to warn everyone of what was happening, what Umbrella was doing. They were able to discredit us before we even landed the chopper. Chris went to Europe to find out more about Umbrella, Barry disappeared for a while to keep his family safe, I don't know what happened to Rebecca. It was just me and Brad left in Raccoon City when all hell broke loose. I met up with him in front of the police station when...when the Nemesis attacked us."

"Nemesis?"

The pause she gave was a clue of how bad this monster was.

"The thing that attacked the two that found Jack, this was it's distant cousin. It was programmed to hunt down all members of S.T.A.R.S. It grabbed Brad, picked him up by the throat, and put it's hand to his face. Whatever it did, it ripped him apart. Do you know what I did while it was happening? I just looked away. I couldn't save him, I couldn't save Dario Rosso or his daughter, I couldn't save Carlos or Mikhail. I was like a curse on anybody who came close to me. I found Jackson standing over June after some thugs knocked her out and left her for dead. My little brave one was trying to protect her from me. He was such a trooper...I swore I wasn't gonna fail them. I thought the curse was real when he got bit, but then I found the vaccine. I was given a second chance to save them and I gave everything I had to keep my promise. When it was all said and done, I went after Umbrella. I thought they were safe, but..."

Her face became visible with regret.

"I am such a hypocrite."

"Why?"

"Because I'm sitting here trying get you to stop blaming yourself...and all I can think of is how _I_ failed to protect them."

Jill lowered her head to hide her shame.

"I knew Umbrella was still out there after we exposed them to the world. They didn't die, they just went underground. They started selling their B.O.W.s on the black market to fund their research. I didn't think they would go after Jack and June. Why would they? Everyone already knew what they were. I haven't seen them in three years. I was so caught up in my work and in that time, I never checked on them. I could've protected them, protected Jack."

Arcee felt pity for the Agent. Strangely enough, she didn't blame her. But why was that? Why did she hold herself accountable for her decisions and not Jill. Why did Jill do the same? Why were they both beating themselves up over something that was beyond their control?

It _was_ beyond their control. Arcee didn't know about Umbrella or that they would strike that night. As for Jill, she was right. Umbrella had no reason to go after Jack and June once they were exposed. Jill couldn't have foreseen that they would. And yet, she still blamed herself. Arcee wouldn't let herself off the hook either, just like with Cliffjumper and Tailgate.

That's when it made sense to Arcee. They both loved Jack. They loved him enough to ignore logic and shoulder the responsibility of his well being on their shoulders. It was natural for them to feel the guilt that they did. But they were letting themselves be held back by it. After losing two partners, she knew the fallout such guilt could bring. Losing Tailgate forced her to shut everything out until Cliffjumper came into her life. Losing him almost caused the same thing. Then Jack came into her life and rescued her. Her guilt had almost consumed her again, but he pulled her out of it. And he was still alive. He still needed them, but not as they were now. He needed them stronger than this.

"Jill?"

"Arcee?"

"Do you love Jack?"

"Like he was my own son. You?"

"Like a little brother. We both let him down."

"Yes, we did."

"But we haven't lost him. Primus is giving us another chance."

"Primus?"

"God."

"I see."

"I don't want Jack to be scared anymore."

"Neither do I. He's been scared for a long time, believe me. The person who cut him, he's going to haunt Jack's nightmares."

"That's why he needs us."

"You're right...Albert Wesker, he's the one who took Jack. He's a sick, traitorous bastard who isn't going to leave Jack alone. He knows he beat the infection. I know he wants him back."

"He's not gonna get'em. He's not gonna touch my Jack again."

Jill stood up.

"Damn right. Not my little brave one."

"So we're in this together?"

"Yeah...we are."

"For Jack."

"For Jack."

They held similar expressions of determination that would make a Prime proud. Arcee looked back over to Cliffjumpers grave. That was the last partner she would lose to anything but time. If Jack was was taken from this world, it would only be after Arcee and Jill were taken first.

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It didn't matter how hungry she was getting as the hours went by. It didn't matter how much her back was hurting from sitting in that uncomfortable chair for so long. It didn't matter how tired she was from not being able to sleep. June did not want to leave Jack's side for even second. Call it being overprotective, being a helicopter mom. But how could she not be when the last time she saw him conscious, he had both of his eyes. Her nightmares were merciless since Jack was brought home. The few times she allowed herself to drift off, they came to her with intention to rob her peace of mind. She always looked away when she would see what her mind was showing her, but she couldn't block out the screams. The screams are what always forced her to wake herself up with a sharp gasp that sounded as if she were suffocating. If she awoke to find herself away from Jackson, she would frantically race back to the med bay to make sure that he was still there. Could anyone really blame her?

Th medic that Jill had called over had come back to change Jack's bandage once more. June once again averted her eyes so that she wouldn't see it. She was thankful for the medic, being unable to treat Jack herself in her current state. Rebecca was a nice enough girl with a pleasant bedside manner. Despite the atmosphere at the base, she kept a smile on her face and an optimistic attitude. But June was a nurse and she knew a coping mechanism when she saw one. The girl was so young, reminding the nurse of herself when she was still in med school. Of course, she was not a young adult fresh out of college. She was a survivor of horror, just like Jill. Yet, she didn't seem jaded or weary like Jill, Chris, or even herself. Even with her coping mechanism, she still had the strength to smile through the bad that Umbrella wrought. That gave her hope for Jack. If Rebecca could remain unbroken through the horrors she'd seen, perhaps he could too. Maybe Rebecca could help him. June could only hope, it had gotten her this far.

"You can look now."

June looked back with surprise at Rebecca. The girl was perceptive.

"It's getting better. Well, he's still missing an eye...but the wound is getting better. It's not bleeding as much as it normally would. It should heal up quite nicely."

June smiled in appreciation. Despite the fumbling of her words, it was good to know that his wound wouldn't get worse.

"Silver lining, an eye patch would look great on him."

Of course, there was a time when one should quit while she was ahead.

"You know, if his hair was longer, he'd have a Captain Harlock thing going on. A patch would give him a bit of a dangerous edge. The girls would be all over him. You might come home to find that he's got his own harem all of a sudden."

June knew she meant well, but the idea of Umbrella doing Jack any favors was not do any for her. Agent Redfield immediately came around to pull Rebecca away.

"Come on, Rebecca."

"What? What'd I say?"

As the two agents walked away, June sat closer to Jack. She took his hand once more, hoping that he knew where he was and who was with him.

"June?"

She looked behind her and saw Arcee looking downcast.

"Arcee."

She was surprised to see her son's guardian. Arcee seemed to be avoiding him since he was rescued. June allowed herself to leave Jack's side to go over to her. Though she looked much better than she did the day before, she could see that Arcee was still upset about Jack.

"I was starting to worry about you."

Arcee looked as though June's worry was a surprise to her. June was able to figure out why that was.

"How's my partn...Jack doing?"

It was as June thought. Arcee still blamed herself for what happened.

"You mean, your partner?"

Arcee looked away.

"I don't think..."

"Arcee, I already told you that I don't blame you."

June placed her hand on Arcee's knee.

"I could never blame you, not after what you did for my son."

Arcee looked at June the same as she did before, surprised.

"What did I do?"

"Everything I couldn't do."

June sat down on the metal crate by the wall, keeping her sad eyes on Jack.

"You helped him get through the nightmares that had been haunting him for six years."

June thought back the when they escaped Raccoon City, when Jack was struggling to deal with trauma of everything that happened.

"Jack was a mess after we got out of that hell hole, we both were. But I was 31 and Jack was only ten, his battle was up a steeper hill than mine...He became withdrawn from everything. I couldn't send him back to school for a year before he was ready to be around other people again. The nightmares were the worst of it. He was terrified to go to sleep because of them...Then his father left us. He couldn't deal with us both being so messed so he just up and left, the son of a bitch. Jack's nightmares got worse...I...I didn't know how to help him."

June remembered just how powerless she felt as a mother when her son was at his lowest.

"Finally, the nightmares stopped. But Jackson was still afraid...he was always afraid. He hated that I still worked in a hospital, since that was where we both saw those things for the first time. He'd call me when he'd go to work, at home, sometimes in between his classes to make sure that I was okay. I wanted so bad to make him realize that it would be alright...When he brought you home for the first time, I didn't protest too hard. I thought that having a motorcycle would help him forget about his fears for a while. Little did I know, right?"

She looked up the Autobot, gratefulness ever so visible.

"You were there that night weren't you? In the garage, when I broke down in front of him?"

"...Yeah...when I found out about the scar."

"You saw how he was, the way he comforted me? He'd never done that before. It was always me who had to get him through his nightmares. That was such a bad night for me, but he was there. He helped pull me through. He was changing before my eyes and it was for the better. I didn't know how or why, but I didn't care. My son was going to be okay. Then that whole thing with Airachnid happened and I found out about you. It was you, wasn't it? You made Jack stronger."

Arcee didn't seem as down as just a moment ago.

"For the last few months, Jack was free. He wasn't scared, he was sleeping better, everything was going well for him. You did that and I never got a chance to thank you."

A smile had finally come across the femme's face, but June's own had disappeared just as it did.

"And then Umbrella had to come back...and shatter everything."

June looked down so Arcee couldn't see her cry.

"He's going to be worse off than before...They did something to him that can't be fixed...Why? Why couldn't they just leave us alone!"

June felt a servo on her back and she was grateful for it. She looked back up to the med bay where her son rested.

"He did nothing to deserve this."

June got back up and returned to her place by Jack. Arcee was close behind her, keeping her servo on June's back.

"I don't just want him to be safe, I want him to be okay. I'm tired of watching him live in fear."

June turned around and looked pleadingly into Arcee's optics.

"Don't let him give up. You helped him once before. I'm begging you, please bring him back from this."

June didn't know what Arcee was thinking behind her look of disbelief.

"Arcee, promise me you'll take care of my son, that you and Jill will protect him and help him get through this. He needs you both, now more than ever."

Arcee looked as if she could finally believe in June's words.

"Not the both of us."

She put her servo on June's soldier.

"All three of us."

June now looked at Arcee in disbelief.

"And you need help too. Jack isn't going to get better if he sees you getting worse. I promise we'll take care of him, as long as you let us take care of you as well."

June couldn't deny that she wasn't alone in this anymore. It used to be just her and Jack against the world, with Jill far away. But now, she had a family behind her. Arcee, Jill, the Autobots, the children, the B.S.A.A., even Agent Fowler, they would all stand with her and her son.

"Thank you, Arcee. Thank you for protecting my son. Thank you for everything."

"Thank _you_ June, for still trusting me."

Something began moving behind them and they turned to look. Jack was stirring in his sleep, his closed eye struggling to open.

"Jack!" they both said in unison as they stood closer to his berth.

He groaned a bit, still tossing and turning. He managed to open his eye, not noticing his mother or partner to the right of him for obvious reasons.

"Jack?" His mother quietly said.

Hearing her voice quickly woke him up.

"Jack, sweety...It's your mother."

Jack looked to his right and saw the two woman of his life standing over him. He looked as if he could not believe what was in front of him.

"Mom? Arcee?" He asked weakly.

"H-Hey partner...welcome back."

Arcee placed her servo upon his chest to keep him calm.

"Jackson, it's okay. You're home now, you're safe." He mother voiced in comfort.

He looked forward at the ceiling as if processing his thoughts. Then his face fell with fear.

"Jack?" His mother asked worryingly.

Before she knew it, Jack had squirmed out from under Arcee's servo and was off of the berth. He tried to stand but fell in weakness.

"Jack!"

Both June and Arcee went to help him, but he quickly stood up and halted them with a hand gesture.

"Don't...Stay Away From Me!"

They were both caught off guard by his reaction and looked on in shock.

"Please, don't come near me."

He looked as if he was terrified at the very sight of his own mother and partner. June was getting scared as she watched her panicked son.

'What did they do, Jack? What did they do to you that you're so scared of us?'

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 **My God my typing sucks! I keep going through all of my previous chapters and I'm still finding spelling errors and missing words in my sentences. I'm not tripping over grammar errors or misplaced commas or whatever, but every time I see a sentence that reads like "Opitmus talked Ratchet earlier the day" I die a little inside. I took a typing class in high school for cryin' out loud. Oh God, what did my resumes look like?**

 **Also, I got my TFP cannon mixed up. In the first chapter, Jack already knew about Megatron's plans to bring his Terrorcon army to Earth. In the show, Optimus didn't figure that out until after Jack left the Autobots. Sorry, that's just been buggin' me for a while.**

 **So last chapter, I said I would introduce some more characters and I only included one this time. That was my bad. I didn't expect this chapter to be so long and had a different way to end it.**

 **So everyone is pretty upset about what happened. I didn't mean to have it all revolve around Jack, but it was hard not to bring him up after what Wesker did to him. On a positive note, Jack is awake. But what do you think has got him freaking out like that? Team Prime and the B.S.A.A. brainstorm on how to deal with Umbrella and Wesker plots to get Jack. Next Time of TFP: Old Nightmare (Cue Bruce Faulconer Music)**


	14. Chapter 14

_Jack couldn't see anything in front of him, but he knew that something was wrong. He felt wrong, like he didn't feel right in his own skin. His mind was sound, but his attempts to speak were futile. He couldn't form words, only manage a strange sound that didn't seem human._

 _'Whats going on? Where am I'_

 _He had trouble remembering anything more than his name. He had very little to go on in figuring out who he was._

 _"Hello, Mr. Darby"_

 _He knew that voice._

 _"How are we feeling?"_

 _Jack knew he heard that voice, but his brain was working at only half capacity. He couldn't put a face to the voice, but he knew that it wasn't as friendly as it sounded._

 _"You've come along quite nicely. The virus seems to agree with you. Much better than that frail form you were born with."_

 _Even though he couldn't see anything, Jack looked around to find the voice. To hurt him, to get away, Jack didn't know. It seemed like Jack was unable to think about too many things at once. Why was his mind having so much trouble trying to function? Jack couldn't feel for anything in the room, it was empty. The voice's owner was not in the room with him, so where could he be?_

 _"Alright, you seem to have grasped the basic motor skills of your new form. Let's see how well you react to prey."_

 _Just then, a door opened behind Jack and allowed enough light to for him to see what he looked like._

 _'What?!'_

 _This was wrong, this was all wrong. This couldn't be him. Jack stared at his hands, his blood red, decaying, clawed hands. He'd seen this somewhere, he knew he did. But why was he like this? What did the voice do to him?_

 _"Jack?"_

 _A frightened voice came from behind him and he knew he recognized it somewhere. When he looked to see the source, his mind began to work a little faster._

 _'I know her.'_

 _She looked familiar, too familiar. Her face, it looked like his. It looked the way he remembered that he looked. Why did she resemble him so much?_

 _"Jackson?" She repeated with an even more frightened tone._

 _The tears from her eyes and the pained expression gave Jack another reminder. She didn't look like him, he looked like her...He got his features from her. How does that happen again?_

 _"Go on, Jack. Greet your mother with open arms. Show her how much you love her"_

 _'Mother, mother, mother...Wait!'_

 _Suddenly, Jack remembered what mother meant. It meant caretaker, protector, someone who loved him...someone who cried when he was hurt...just like this woman was crying now._

 _'Mother! Mom!'_

 _This was Jack's mother and something was wrong with her. She was upset, hurt, scared? It didn't matter. Jack remembered who he was and what he used to do in these situations. He walked to his mother, desperate to make her stop crying._

 _'It's okay, Mom. I'm here.'_

 _That's what he meant to say, but he knew that wasn't what came out. She didn't look happy to see him. With every step he took forward, she took one back. He could tell that she recognized him, but why was she so scared of him?_

 _'Wait.'_

 _Jack stopped and looked at his claws again. He remembered what was going on. He was a monster and now his mother was afraid of him. He wasn't Jack anymore...But he still knew who she was. She knew he was still her son too...Right?_

 _"Tell me, Ms. Darby. How far are you willing to go to end your Jackson's suffering? Better yet, how far will you go to survive? Will you make the ultimate sacrifice to save your life and set your beloved only child free?"_

 _Jack looked back at his mother who was now aiming a gun at him._

 _'Mom?'_

 _Why was she doing that? Jack would never hurt her. She knew that right? She was now breathing in gasps as if she was caught in a waking nightmare. Jack wanted to stop this, so he walked over to comfort her. Just as before, she only grew more scared._

 _"Jack, please don't."_

 _'Mom, don't be scared.'_

 _"Please...Please, don't make me do this."_

 _'I'm not gonna hurt you. I could never hurt you.'_

 _His mother stared at Jack with weak eyes and slowly lowered her weapon. Why did she look so defeated, so hopeless?_

 _"I can't..."_

 _Jack needed to help her. He supposed that's why he was running towards her at the speed he did so. He ran into her, intending to hold his mother until her fears would cease. But that's not what happened._

 _"Very good, Mr. Darby."_

 _Jack saw that his mother was no longer in front of him, but now a few feet to the left of him and on the floor._

 _"Give in to your instincts."_

 _She was shaking in pain and Jack was struck with fear. He looked at his claw and saw a fresh splash of blood dripping from his digits and onto the floor._

 _'No...Did I do this?'_

 _Jack looked to his mother again, who had turned over on her back._

 _'Mom?!'_

 _The left side of her face was completely mangled, only her right resembled the woman who had raised him. Once again, Jack wanted to go to her and help her. He began to move towards her and she desperately tried to shuffle away._

 _'No! Stop!'_

 _He knew what he was about to do. He felt like he had control of his body, but he could not compel himself to cease what he was doing._

 _'What am I doing?! Stop!'_

 _His mother was choking on her own tears, absolute terror plain to see._

 _'Why can't I stop this?! Why am I trying to kill her?!'_

 _Jack could hear his words come out as snarls and groans, which only served to cause his mother to panic even more._

 _'Please, no.'_

 _June had managed to stand up and stare at Jackson with a look of fear that he'd never thought she would give him._

 _'Mom, Run!'_

 _As if she heard him, June ran as fast as she could, but the room was sealed. She had nowhere to go. Before she could even reach the far wall, Jack ran after her._

 _'No!'_

 _Jack closed the distance and was within reach of her._

 _'Mom!'_

 _Suddenly, he saw his claw tear into her back and knock her to the ground. He stopped and stood over her. She was covered in blood now, seemingly gasping for air._

 _'Stop...'_

 _Jack knelt over her and pulled her closer to him._

 _'Please, Stop!'_

 _She glanced at Jack one more time._

 _"Jack..." She sounded so hurt._

 _Jack dug his fangs into her neck and listened to her scream as he tore her flesh away._

 _'Stop! Please!'_

 _His body ignored his cries as his claw began to destroy the other side of her face. Now she looked nothing like his mother._

 _'I'm sorry, Mom! I'm sorry!'_

 _He began pulling her head to one side, hearing something snap as he did. Her head was beginning to detach. Suddenly, with one fleshy tear, it came off and hit the ground. Jack stopped his bloodshed to look at his mother's severed head. It was all shredded skin and torn flesh now. The only remaining part of his mother's beautiful face was her right eye. Her blue eye stared into him, as if it was haunting him on her behalf. He wanted to look away from it, to the mess he had made of his mother. But he couldn't, he simply went back to tearing her body apart. As he ripped her back open, pulling out what was inside, he screamed internally. He screamed louder than any human could scream. He screamed continuously, never taking a moment to breath. But his screams were not heard. Only more groans and snarls came from his disgusting mouth that was now caked in mother's blood. Despite him being unable to, in his head, he continued to scream._

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Jack felt a hand on his chest and instantly knew who is belonged to. He came to realize that what he'd just experienced was just a dream, the worst he'd ever had. He struggled to open his eyes, having a particularly difficult time with his right. He managed his left and saw two very familiar faces before him. His mother, who was the subject of the horrible dream he was just having, and Arcee. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her at the moment. Both of them stared at him with relief on their faces. They looked the same as his mother and Jill did when he woke up in that room after being bitten. Suddenly, everything came back to him. He remembered the last conversation he had with Arcee, how it ended before she went off to her mission. He remembered what happened after, _everything_ that happened.

Jack suddenly remembered why he could only see out of one eye. The tall man with the shades had taken the other from him. Not even getting bit by a zombie could compare the pain he had put him through. Jack tried to push the thought behind him, knowing it would only worry his mother and his partner worse than they already were. And then he remembered his bite, along with what the tall man had said to him. He didn't know where he got the strength to move so quickly, but he pushed himself off of the berth he was resting upon. He had moved too fast to see Arcee's and his June's reactions, only hearing them call his name. He fell to the floor the moment he tried to run. He legs felt like noodles beneath him. He managed to stumble his way to a nearby wall and prop himself up against it while his strength came back. He saw them moving closer, but held his hand out to stop them. In truth, it was his mother he was more concerned for.

"Don't...Stay Away From Me!"

They ceased to move forward, each of them looking alarmed by his reaction.

"Please, don't come near me."

He looked to his mother, who he could tell had a thousand thoughts racing through her mind. He took a moment to realize where he was. It the was the base, his partner's home. Realization began to dawn on Jack as he understood what this meant. They must've been the one's who rescued him from Umbrella, which could only mean that...

'They know.'

Arcee signaled June to stay where she was and moved slowly towards Jack.

"It's alright, Jack. This is a safe place, remember?"

She moved closer.

"Arcee...Please don't let my Mom come near me."

"Why? You think she's _that_ mad at you."

She knelt in front of him, examining all over. She could see how scared he was.

"Hey."

She lifted his chin up to look at her, the same way she did in the garage.

"It's okay, partner."

He knew that she was not okay, clearly looking at the eye he didn't have.

"Y-You know, don't you?"

Arcee looked downcast, giving him his answer.

"I do...And I don't care...I'm just happy you're still with us."

Jack felt a bit of relief. Arcee wasn't mad at him.

"Drug addict from Possum City, huh?"

"I'm sorry I lied, Arcee. I was just..."

"I get it, Jack. You were scared."

She brought him to her chassis.

"But you don't have to be anymore. Umbrella won't ever touch you again."

As much as Jack wanted to take solace in Arcee's proclamation, it was too late.

"Jack..."

He looked to see June walking over on the verge of tears.

"Mom, please don't." He choked out.

It was as if his words had hurt his mother. Arcee looked at Jack, understandably confused and worried.

"Jack, what's wrong? Why are you so afraid of your mother?"

Jack looked down, not wanting to see June's face when she learned the truth.

"I'm infected."

Arcee let go of Jack and took a step back. Without realizing it, she had placed her servo in front of June to protect her. He was grateful for that. June looked on with confusion, but she was clearly afraid as well.

"You have to keep everyone away from me."

"You're not infected."

Jack looked behind him and realized that Ratchet was watching them the whole time.

"You were administered a vaccine upon you're arrival. That was yesterday and you have yet to show any signs of change. You're clean, Jack. You are of no danger to anyone."

None of them knew what he knew. He didn't want to tell them, to destroy their hopes after what they must've been through.

"Jill, he's up!" He heard from a female voice that he didn't recognize, taking note of the name she had called for.

Jack looked over to where the voice came from. Standing at the corridor was a young looking woman with short brown hair, wearing a green and white outfit. She seemed to be as concerned for him as Arcee and his mother were.

Coming from around the corner, Jack saw a familiar face he hadn't seen in three years. Jill had run into the main hall and stopped when she saw the conscious Jackson. Very quickly, she ran over to him and pulled him into a tight embrace that made him feel less afraid. For some reason, he wasn't concerned about her being infected by him.

"Jack, your okay." She said above a whisper.

She pulled away to get a good look at the teen.

"Look at you. You...got big."

Jack couldn't help but look away bashfully, remembering the crush he had on Jill years ago.

"I guess I can't call you my little one anymore. You went and grew up on me."

For the first time since he regained consciousness, Jack smiled.

"Jill...I didn't know when I'd see you again."

Jill's face fell at Jack's words. She took one look at his eye and hugged him again.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I'm sorry this happened to you."

He hugged her reassuringly. He didn't blame her, not even for a second.

"Don't be...You still saved me."

Jill pulled away again.

"Actually, _they_ saved you."

Jill pointed back to the corridor which was now occupied by the rest of the Autobots. Bulkhead had Miko on his shoulder, who was covering her mouth and trying not to cry. Raf stood in between Bumblebee and Rebecca, his mouth opened to a smile. Optimus looked on behind them, seemingly happy, yet distant. Raf was eager to greet his friend and set himself to make a run for Jack. Jack's face became frightened once more at the sight of he and Miko.

"Raf, wait!"

He stopped himself. Jack looked to Jill again.

"Jill, I'm still infected."

Jill's eyes widened. Rebecca instinctively pulled Rafael back.

"Jack...you're not infected. I gave you the vaccine. The second you got back..."

He shook his head as tried to explain.

"It doesn't work."

Everyone stood still and went as quiet as a crypt. Jill collected herself just enough to barely form a question.

"Wha-What do you mean, it doesn't work?"

Jack looked to his mother, who was still in a state of near panic.

"The T-Vaccine, it didn't cure me."

There was a long silence in the base.

"Of course it cured you. You're standing right in front of me."

Jack tried to remember what the tall man had told him about the virus.

"Take my blood and you'll see."

He lifted up his arm, the one the scar.

"It's still in there. I'm still carrying the virus, that's what he said."

'He?' Jill thought.

"I don't why I haven't turned. He told me..."

Jack struggled to remember the specifics of his conversation before it went bad.

"He said that it had changed somehow...I...can't remember what else."

Jack had exhausted himself from his panic and his struggle to recollect what the tall man had said. He began to sway as if he was ready to pass out.

"Hey, relax Jack." Jill said as she took hold of him to keep him from falling.

He held in head and shook it lightly to gather his strength. He looked around and saw that everyone was understandably nervous. Everyone except his mom that is, who was now tearing up. Rebecca had walked over with a syringe pack.

"May, I?"

Jack nodded and allowed this woman to take a blood sample. He tried his best not to look at Arcee or his mother.

"Jill...You have to keep me somewhere away from them. You and 'Bots are okay, but my Mom, Raf, Miko, they have to stay away from me. I don't want to risk them getting infected."

Jill took both sides of Jack's face.

"Jack, whatever they said to you was a lie. I know the infected when I see them and your not one of them. We're gonna get to the bottom of this."

Jill sighed, knowing that Jack wasn't going to change his mind until he was proven wrong.

"I'll keep them away for now. But Jack, I promise that you're okay."

Rebecca took her sample of blood and patched Jack up. She walked over to Ratchet, who lifted her up to the platform to begin examining the blood. Jack took one look at Arcee and June before Jill led them away. Both of them looked as if they were afraid of never seeing him again. Jill cast them a look as well, trying to appear as assuring as possible. It didn't seem to work. They both walked past the rest of the group, Jack trying his best not to get too close to any human besides Jill. As they turned the corridor and walked down the hall, he felt something grab his waist from behind. He looked down and saw Rafael hugging him tightly.

"Raf, don't!"

"I don't care."

He was crying.

"You're gonna be okay, Jack. I know you will."

He looked up, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"We'll help you...somehow."

As scared as he was for Rafael's safety, Jack couldn't bring himself to push him away. It had begun to occur to him how worried he and Miko must've been for his safety. Jack placed his hand atop Raf's head, comforting the crying child. Another stranger walked up to them, clad in military greens. He gently pulled Raf away and stood with his hands upon his shoulders. Jack gave him a grateful nod, which he returned respectfully. He seemed trustworthy enough to leave Raf in his care. Jill put her arm around Jack and they continued down the hall.

"Mr. Redfield?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"She'll take care of Jack, won't she?"

Chris looked down at Raf, who was still staring at Jack in the distance.

"Jill loves the kid as much as you do, Rafael. She's gonna do everything she can for him. I can promise you that."

He ruffled Raf's hair and led him back to Bumblebee. The two exchanged nods before he took his charge in his servo to comfort him. Chris looked up at Optimus, who had distanced himself when Jack walked by. He was now staring down the corridor which Jack had disappeared from moments ago.

"Prime."

Optimus looked down at Chris.

"Ready to go?"

His face became more determined.

"Ready when you are, Agent Redfield."

Chris nodded back and the two walked to the main hall.

"Ratchet, set coordinates and open the bridge."

"You're going over there, Optimus?"

"Yes, old friend. If we are going to make our next move against Umbrella, then we will need to make this alliance official."

"I take it that means we can expect more company."

"Indeed, old friend."

"Then by all means, let's bring in the specialists."

The ground bridge opened up and Optimus transformed. Chris got into the drivers seat and the truck drove through the vortex. Arcee stared at the bridge, still holding an upset June close to her. She held a fierce gaze in her optics.

"Don't worry, Arcee."

She looked to the medic.

"When they get back, we take the war to Umbrella."

Arcee felt the need to take a page from human vocabulary.

"Damn right, we will."

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Chris sat inside of Optimus' cabin in the heart of the Arizona desert. Somewhere in this vast and dry land was the location of a B.S.A.A. black site. Both the agent and the Prime were quiet as they waited for Chris' contact. Chris could tell something was bothering Optimus.

"You okay, Prime?"

"I am. Why do you ask?"

Chris stared out the window, trying not to pry too deeply.

"I know you're worried about the kid."

There was a moment of hesitation.

"Would you not be the same were it someone under your care?"

"I don't even really know the kid and I'm worried about him."

"Yes, Agent Redfield. I am concerned about Jackson's well being, both physical and mental."

"Look, I don't know what they mighta' told'em, but Jack is not infected. After six years, there's no way the vaccine didn't work. Umbrella was just trying to mess with his head."

"If that is was they intended, they have succeeded."

Chris looked down at the steering wheel.

"I know. Jack is...the kid's scared. I don't blame'em either, not after what happened."

"It goes much deeper than that, Agent Redfield. Jack had been afraid long before Umbrella came back for him. Since we had first met, I had known that something was wrong with him, that he had suffered in the past."

Chris readjusted in his seat, growing more interested in what Optimus was saying.

"It became most apparent when Jackson decided that he would better off away from me and my fellow Autobots for his own safety. His demeanor showed signs of trauma that went unnoticed by the other children. He had returned the following day, but continued to show signs of anxiety that were not common among humans his age. Over time, he seemed to improve. I believe it was due greatly to his interactions with my Second In Command, Arcee, who I had appointed to be his guardian. However, certain changes in his behavior would not go unnoticed by me. I would sometimes find him sneaking away from the others and seclude himself in one of our storage rooms. There, he would suffer what humans refer to as 'panic attacks'. I still do not know what had caused these episodes to occur, but I continued to watch him closely. Eventually, they too ceased and I believed that Jackson was making progress...Now, I fear it has all been undone at the hands of Umbrella and that he is worse off than before. Jack believes that he is infected once again and is a danger to the others. I fear of what he might do if he is left alone."

Chris thought about all the soldiers who had resorted to taking their own lives in the battlefield after believing they were infected. Optimus' concerns were justified.

"He just needs to know that you guys are there. Once he sees that he's not infected, it's just a matter of getting him through the storm."

Optimus was now silent in thought.

"We're both soldiers. We've both been through hell and seen what that can do to a person. Post Traumatic Stress can really destroy you from the inside out. Support is the best way to fight PTSD and Jack has got one hell of support system. I know you guys are like one big family and Jill loves the kid and his mom. Between her, his mother, and you guys, I know he's gonna pull through. But nothing's gonna make Jack feel better than knowing that these bastards aren't gonna be bothering him anymore. We need to make that happen.

"Indeed we do, Agent Redfield."

"Starting with this alliance _and_ as if on cue..."

"Chris?"

Chris looked out the window and saw Clive R. O'Brian, director of the B.S.A.A. and it's third founder along with he and Jill. Optimus opened the passenger door, allowing him to climb inside.

"Director O'Brian, it's good to see again."

"You too, Chris. You and Jill have been at it hard lately."

"Umbrella ain't gonna stop themselves, Clive."

Clive took a look around the inside of Optimus' cabin.

"So what's with the Peterbilt? This ain't really your style."

"I admit that my vehicle form lacks subtlety, but so long that it maintains the illusion of common vehicle among humans, it serves it's intended purpose." Optimus' voice came from the radio.

"Uh, Chris...what the hell?"

Optimus started up and began to drive.

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride, Clive. You're not gonna believe what you're about to see."

They rode further into the desert until Optimus was certain to away from any prying eyes. After about thirty minutes, they came to a stop.

"Alright, time to get out."

"Chris, what's going on?"

Chris smiled mischievously as he exited the truck.

"You're gonna love this part."

The pair stepped out of Optimus' cabin and stood in front of him. Optimus began to shift into his bipedal form, leaving the director with a gaping mouth. Optimus fully transformed and towered above Clive.

"Greetings, Director O'Brian. My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

Clive caught his breath and looked at Chris.

"Alright Chris, you have my attention."

"Not me you should pay attention to."

"Director O'Brian, you are no doubt curious as to what I am and where I come from. Rest assured that in due time, all questions will be answered. What you need to concern yourself with now is why I am here. I am here to offer my assistance."

It took a moment for Clive to manage a question.

"Assistance in what, exactly?"

"In the downfall of a common enemy, Umbrella."

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"By the Allspark."

Everyone turned to Ratchet, who was examining Jack's blood sample along with Rebecca. She had just explained to him exactly what he was looking at.

"What is it, Ratchet?" Arcee asked

"Someone get Jill, she needs to see this." Rebecca ordered to no one in particular.

Raf stepped forward.

"She's with Jack in one of the storage rooms and we're not allowed in there."

"Yeah, apparently it's now a _quarantined_ area." Miko said while making quoted marks in the air.

"C'mon, Miko. It's to make Jack feel better. Don't take it personally." Bulkhead reasoned.

"Jack's just afraid we'll get sick because he thinks he's infected." Raf followed up.

Ratchet looked grim from where he was standing.

"Jack _is_ cured, isn't he?" Raf asked

Arcee looked at June, who kept her head down while nervously curling the fingers of her right hand.

"Like Agent Chambers said, Jill needs to see this for herself."

"I'll get her." Miko stated, clearly not as a request.

"No, Miko. You heard what Valentine said. Jack wants all humans to stay away." Bulkhead protested.

"I don't care what he says. I'm gonna go see him."

"I'll go."

Everyone looked over to June, who was now standing.

"I need to speak with my son, anyway."

Arcee immediately stood in front of her.

"June, that's not a good idea."

"Arcee, I've been around Jack everyday since the incident. I've cleaned and treated every cut, scratch, and bruise he's ever gotten. If I haven't been infected, I'm not going to be"

She looked up at Arcee with a very fierce gaze. For a second, she forgot that June was just an ordinary human mother.

"And you are not going to keep me from seeing my son."

This must've been the June that fought through zombies to get the vaccine to Jack in time. Arcee did not stand in her way any longer and moved aside to allow June to leave the area. Everyone felt chills from her presence.

"Is she gonna okay?" Rebecca asked from the platform.

"She will once she talks to Jack." Arcee replied. "I hope."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"You look different."

Jill looked at Jack who had been mostly quiet since he was moved to the storage unit.

"Is that your way of telling me that I look older?"

"N-No, I meant your hair. It's longer. You used to keep it short."

Jill absently played with her tied back hair.

"Is that what you're into, short hair?"

Jack turned beet red.

"No! I mean...It looked good on you, but this looks good too. But I'm not into you...Uh, w-what I'm saying is..."

Jill nearly snorted in laughter as Jack dug himself deeper. She put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Chill out, Jack. I'm just teasing you."

"Oh...funny."

Jill was glad that Jack was still able to act like a normal, awkward, teenager. Anything was better than the paranoid teen from earlier.

"I guess that solves the mystery of whether or not you still have a crush on me."

Jack's eyes widened and he dared not even glance at Jill.

"Oh come on, Jack. Of course, I knew about that. Whenever I was around, you were both excited and quiet at the same time. Plus, you told your Mom that you thought I was beautiful when you were twelve."

Jack put his face in his hands.

" _Oh God!_ She told you that?" He said in embarrassment.

This all amused Jill.

"Hey, what are you so upset about? I'm the one who got replaced by a motorcycle."

"No! Nonononono, don't even go there. I got enough of that from Mom."

Jill began to laugh which caused Jack to shrink in his bed. Anything that kept him from worrying was a good thing.

"One of these days, you have to tell me the full story about how you two met."

"It's less epic than you think."

Jill smiled and shook her head. Jack looked at her as she became quiet, clearly thinking to herself.

"Jill?"

"Hm?"

"Look, I don't want you and Arcee to think what happened to me was your fault."

Jill looked back at Jackson.

"Jack."

"I know you both well enough to tell that's what you're thinking."

Jill inhaled then sighed. Jack certainly matured much more than she thought.

"I appreciate you saying that, Jack."

"But you still blame yourself, don't you?"

"Boot on the other foot, wouldn't you?"

"Probably...and you would be telling me not to."

"And you would think otherwise."

This was beginning to make Jack's head hurt.

"Even still, I know you guys did the best you could. Even with the 'Bot's help, you had the odds stacked against you."

Jack put his hand to bandage.

"This isn't on you...That creepy, blonde guy did this."

Jill took note of how he described him.

"Listen."

She took his hand.

"I know how hard this has been for you. I know this whole thing has left it's mark on you, especially now...We're here to help you get through it."

She squeezed his hand tighter.

"It wasn't fair that you and your mother had to deal with this for six years and could never talk to anyone about it...All that's changed now. The situation is different. Now, you can take it as slow as you need to. No one is gonna force you to talk about it if you're not ready. But I'm here now, so is Arcee. All of us are here when you want to talk about anything."

The gratefulness is Jack's eye was easy to see.

"It's gonna take some time, but we're gonna get through this...And we're gonna stop Umbrella, for good this time. I promise that this is the end of them."

He could feel a tear threatening to fall.

"But..."

He braced himself.

"There is one thing I need to know...and I'm sorry for making you think about him. The person who did this to you, do you remember what he looked like?"

Jack did remember and he was never going to forget it for as long as he lived.

"Yes."

Jill was reluctant to move forward, afraid of triggering something in Jack.

"Tall man, blonde hair, probably slicked back, nasally voice, sounds like a damn Bond villain, and he wears sunglasses?"

As she described him, Jack's one eye grew wide. That's was all Jill needed to see. She placed her hand behind his head.

"He's never getting his hands on you again, I swear on my life."

Jack looked at Jill, much less at ease as he was just moments ago.

"My Mom...Don't let him hurt my Mom."

"Of course not, Jack."

"Please...I can deal with this." He said, pointing to his eye. "But he will go after her to get to me and not just her, Miko and Raf...Please, protect them from him."

Jack was not a kid anymore. Was he ever, really? She had to wonder. She cupped the side of his face.

"You know I will, Jack."

He placed his hand over hers.

"That's all I care about."

This all surprised Jill. It was kind of sad, yet admirable at the same time. She had to smile at him again.

"How'd you get to be so brave, Jackson?"

Nostalgia washed over them both and they became silent yet content.

"Jill?"

Both of them looked to the doorway and was surprised to see June standing there.

"June, what are..."

"Mom?" Jack interrupted with noticeable concern.

"Rebecca wants to show something. She says it's important."

Jill looked back at Jack and could see that he didn't want her to leave him with June. But June clearly needed to be with Jackson. She was torn now. She looked back at June, who silently pleaded to let her see Jack. She couldn't keep her away from her son any longer.

"Jack, I'll be right back."

"Jill, no."

"It's okay, your mother's safe. I promise."

She rubbed his face affectionately and went to the exit. June mouthed a thank you as she passed. The two were left alone, Jack staring at the foot of the bed when she took the seat next to him.

"Please, don't get too close."

"I'm not worried, Jackson."

"I am."

June looked at her son and decided to throw caution to the wind. She hadn't held her son in what felt like forever, so she stood up and took Jack in her arms. He drew a harsh breath and tensed up in her hold of him.

"Mom!" He sounded like a frightened child.

"Jack, please."

"But, I don't..."

He stopped himself when he felt her trembling and heard her crying. Just like with Rafael, he thought of how hard it must've been for her while Umbrella had him. This was worse than the garage breakdown, worse than when he was bitten. He was secretly happy that he didn't see her reaction to his eye, though he felt guilty that he couldn't comfort her either.

"They tried to take you from me. I thought I'd never see you again."

Jack put his arm around June and rested his head on top of hers. Like her, he threw caution to the wind.

"Mom?"

"Yes?" She looked up.

"When I got bit...and you gave me the vaccine, Jill said you sang to me while you waited."

June would always sing to Jack whenever he was scared as a child or to herself when she went through difficult times. This seemed like one of those times.

"Can you sing to me again?"

June continued to look at Jack who had begun to stroke her hair. She placed her head back and wiped away a few tears. There was one song that she liked more than others.

 _"You remember songs of heaven_  
 _Which you sang with childish voice._  
 _Do you love the hymns they taught you,_  
 _Or are songs of earth your choice?_  
 _You can picture happy gatherings_  
 _Round the fireside long ago,_  
 _And you think of tearful partings_  
 _When they left you here below._  
 _One by one their seats were emptied._  
 _One by one they went away._  
 _Now the family is parted._  
 _Will it be complete one day?"_

She was beginning to calm down, her crying had stopped. Jack listened to the old hymn, feeling a sense of comfort from the words as well as his mother's voice.

 _"Will the circle be unbroken_  
 _By and by, by and by?_  
 _Is a better home awaiting_  
 _In the sky, in the sky?"_

She was calm now, still hugging her son. No words needed to be said. Jack loved his mother and she loved him even more. And yes, he had the scar to prove it. But for now, silence was acceptable. Jack's only response was to give his mother a kiss on top her of head.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jill stood against the railings, looking none too settled. She had taken a look at Jack's blood sample and sure enough, he _was_ still infected. But it wasn't with the T-Virus. It looked similar to it, but it didn't behave the same way the virus did. The T-Cells were completely inert and from what she could tell, functionally harmless. At least that would give him some comfort. But she had never seen anything like this before. If the vaccine didn't work, then why was the virus inactive inside of him? It clearly didn't get rid of it, but it seemed to neutralize it instead. Maybe the vaccine did work and it just needed to be perfected.

"Jill?"

She looked over at Rebecca.

"When Jack was bitten, how long did it take for you to get the vaccine to him?"

"I-I don't know, just over an hour, maybe."

Rebecca looked as confused by this as Jill.

"You said that he was bit by a zombie and then June stayed behind with him. You found Umbrella's hospital and found Umbrella ops agent who told you about the vaccine before he died. You ran back to June, went back to the hospital, fought your way through zombies, crimson heads, and hunter betas to synthesize the vaccine. Then you made it back but had to fight through even more zombies just to get to Jackson. Do I have that right?"

Jill nodded, unsure of where Rebecca was going with this.

"When you first left the two behind, Jack was showing all the signs of infection: fever, labored breathing, paleness?"

"Yes."

"When you went back, you said he had about an hour before he would change."

"Rebecca, what are you trying to say?"

"You got the vaccine to him moments before it would've been too late."

"Yeah, then he pulled through. You see? The vaccine worked."

"Jill..."

She sounded off, but not worried.

"There was no way that you and June could've made it back to Jackson before he turned. By the time you got the vaccine to him, he should have already become a zombie."

Jill gripped the railing behind her tightly.

"What does that mean?"

Rebecca thought for a moment.

"The virus was infecting him and it _was_ changing him. Maybe the vaccine did stop it, I don't know. But Jack's blood slowed it down. On some level, he was able to resist mutation without it for a least little while."

Jill let go of the railing and walked up to Rebecca.

"So, what your saying is...Jack's body was trying to fight off the T-Virus?"

"Yeah, it would seem that way...With the way his blood is now, he might possess an immunity to it."

Jill stared at Rebecca with disbelief. Jack was immune to the T-Virus infection? With that knowledge, there was a number of possibilities that could be explored with his blood. But then, it made her realize something about Umbrella. They most certainly saw infinite possibilities as well. Now that she knew Wesker was still alive and was the one who went after Jack, it wouldn't just be his blood they would be interested. Jack wasn't just a curious specimen to them. If Wesker knew what they knew, he was the missing link to whatever endgame they have been trying to achieve.

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In the heart of the M.E.C.H. base, a silent figure made it's way through with ease. Any soldier unfortunate enough to cross it's path was met with a swift end. At the very least, they died quick and painlessly by way of a snapped neck or a suppressed bullet to the head. The figure could not take the time to hide the bodies, for it was on a mission. Finally, it found what it was looking for. There was a large console, filled with valuable information. The figure made it's way to the console and inserted a flash drive. The drive began uploading information ranging from other M.E.C.H. locations to something called the "Transformers". The figure saw images of what looked to be giant human shaped weapons made of metal. Suddenly, the figure was assaulted with several floodlights activating behind it. The blinding light was followed by the sounds of several rifles being aimed at it.

"I have to give you credit. It takes skill and alot of guts to infiltrate M.E.C.H."

The figure recognized the voice, not needing to turn to know who it was.

"Along with blatant disregard for your own life. Now turn around slowly with your hands up."

The figure did as it was told and revealed itself. She was a beautiful Asian woman with short black hair, wearing a red button down shirt, elbow length leather gloves, tight leather pants that hugged her figure, and heel tipped boots. Not the most practical attire for infiltrating a terrorist base.

"Ada Wong."

"Hello, Leland. You've aged horribly."

The scarred leader payed no mind to her insult.

"Take her weapons."

Her only weapon was a suppresses Steyr TMP on her hip. She also held a strange looking item that resembled a firearm strapped to her leg. Despite being at their mercy, the smirk on her face insinuated that she believed she was not in danger. Two agents deprived her of both arms, one copping a feel as he did. He was lucky she was being held at gunpoint.

"By the way, it's _Silas_ now Ms. Wong."

"It doesn't suit you, _Leland_. So, what happens now?"

"If you were anyone else, I'd shoot you on the spot. But I'm curious as to who you're offering your services to."

"Come now, Leland. You should know about client confidentiality."

"And if I offered you double to go back and put a bullet in your client's head?"

"You couldn't afford a date with me, sweety."

Silas was none too pleased with Ada.

"Very well, Ms. Wong. We will get to the bottom of who hired you and what M.E.C.H. has that they want. Cuff her and lock her up."

Ada recognized the agent who moved forward as the same one who couldn't keep his hands to himself. No doubt, he was looking to grope her again. She also saw that he had her hookshot strapped to his waist. The fool didn't think to hand it off to someone else. He took her arms behind her, getting much too close for her comfort. She smirked to herself before she took action. As fast as a cobra, Ada flipped over her captor as he cuffed one of her hands. Landing behind him, she grabbed the other cuff with her free hand and pulled the chain against his throat. The agent struggled against her as every gun fixed on the two of them. Ada knew that this soldier was expendable. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

" _Don't ever_ touch me again."

During her reversal, she let a small metal ball slip from her sleeve and land on the ground unnoticed. The ball exploded in a flash of light that drowned out the flood lights and blinded everyone in the room, safe for Ada who wisely looked away. The light died down and Ada made her move. She quickly snapped her hostage's neck and took her hookshot. While Silas and the others were still blinded, she fired it into the high ceiling. The hook broke through the glass of the skylight and pulled her up. Realizing what she was doing, Silas blindly fired in the direction where he heard the glass shattering. He didn't even come close to hitting his target. Ada was through the roof and gone in a heartbeat. His vision returned shortly after.

"Search the compound! Don't let her escape!"

The other agents fled to the outside in the hopes of capturing her. Silas knew better, however. Unless she was tied down with every chain they had, nothing could stop Ada Wong. What really concerned him was the person who hired her. There was only one man he knew of who could afford her services. But he had never been interested in M.E.C.H. or their plans. After all these years, why the sudden change? What was Albert Wesker after? It couldn't be the Transformers, could it?

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 **THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, MY ASS!**

 **Sorry I took this long to get the story up, but it is now Christmas Day and the last week has been hell. I love Christmas, but nothing can make me hate it quite like last minute Christmas shoppers. On the plus side, overtime up the yin yang. Now I can afford to buy bacon...I don't have really high life goals.**

 **Ahem, so new chapter up. I plan this to be the last** _ **emotional**_ **chapter for a while. Maybe not, still have to write a scene with Jack and Arcee. But the plot is moving forward after two chapters of feels.**

 **So we got a few nice little moments with Jack and Jill, Jack and Raf, and of course the return of June singing to Jack. I know that's not how the song is structured, but it felt better to remove the chorus until the end. I intend to write out Optimus' meeting with Director O'Brian out further in the next chapter. Also, looks like Optimus saw more than he let on in previous chapters. And do not worry, I will go into more detail about Jack's immunity next time as well. I have a few ideas of where I want to go with his storyline, mutation being one of them, but I gotta progress the story further before I make that decision.**

 **But I know some of you want me to talk about the latest addition to the Resident Evil cast. Yes, Ada Wong is in this story and yes, a certain blonde government agent will be making an appearance in the future. I have a ton of ideas of how I want them to get involved in Jack's plotline. In the next chapter, more details emerge and the alliance becomes official.**

 **Have a happy and safe holidays, don't drink and drive, and ship Dipcifica. I swear, Weirdmageddon 3 better deliver.**


	15. Chapter 15

Optimus was driving through the desert, both Chris and Clive riding inside. Director O'Brian was still trying to get over the fact he had just made alien contact. Even with all of the things he'd seen, this one was one for the books.

"You okay there, director?" Chris asked, noticing Clive pondering to himself.

"What's the strangest thing you've seen since this whole thing began?"

"Strangest or most horrific?" Chris replied with a slightly more serious tone.

"Well, _this_ is a nice change of pace from the nightmares we face everyday. I mean here I am, riding around in a red and blue alien on a mission to save humanity. All those comic books I read when I was a kid...who woulda' thought I'd meet a real life Superman?"

Chris looked away and laughed to himself. Optimus was confused by O'Brian's statement and Chris' reaction, not familiar with human fiction.

"Having said that...any Lex Luthors or General Zods I need to know about?"

"I have not met either of these individuals. Rest assured, Director, that the primary focus for myself and my fellow Autobots is Umbrella. The longer they are allowed to carry on with their experiments, the greater threat they pose to all of mankind and our new home."

"You're really on our side, aren't you Optimus?"

"I am on the same side as I've always been, that which desires peace. Umbrella's goals will only lead to a world of chaos and terror, and mankind will become an endangered species. This you already know, I am sure."

O'Brian looked ahead to the road, agreeing with everything the metal giant from space was saying.

"I know it too well, friend. We all do. And I'm sorry that these people struck so close to home for you. I want you to know that I take that kinda thing seriously. My people are gonna do whatever we can for your friend and we're not gonna let Umbrella get anywhere near him. You have my word, Optimus."

"You word is of great value to me, Director O'Brian."

"Comin' up on base, Optimus." Chris said as they approached the the B.S.A.A. black site.

Optimus slowed as he neared the gate, seeing armed guards readying their weapons. Director O'Brian stuck himself out of the window to show that it was him. The gate opened and Optimus was allowed through. As they entered the large military facility, several soldiers stopped what they were doing at the strange sight of the Director and two of the founders riding to base in a very non standard big rig. The truck came to a stop in front of an audience and the two passengers stepped out. One of the onlookers ran up to Chris and greeted him with a hug.

"Chris!"

"Hey! Been a while, Sheva."

Sheva pulled away, still excited to see Chris.

"A while? Feels like it's been ages since Angola."

She turned to greet O'Brian.

"Director." She said professionally.

O'Brian wasn't put off by the lack of excitement that she had just shown Chris. He had long since stayed out of the field and ran things from behind the scenes. Even though he was still widely respected by his men, it was a far cry from the personal bonds they had with each other.

"Alomar, look who I found driving through the desert in this big'ol rig here."

Sheva looked at the red and blue truck in front of her, understandably confused.

"I was just gonna ask about that. What is this thing?"

Chris was about to explain.

"A truck like this doesn't suit you."

A older, thick bearded man wearing a red long sleeve shirt came from the crowd.

"That's what I said." O'Brian replied.

"How ya been, Barry?" Chris greeted while hugging his old friend. "How's your family?"

"Safe, as safe as I can keep them."

Chris put a firm grip on Barry's shoulder.

"We'll get there, Barry."

"I hope so, Chris. I want to give my daughters a future without Umbrella."

Optimus decided that he liked this Barry, understanding his desire to keep his loved ones safe. This made him think of the children, of June and Jackson.

"Men, listen up."

Everyone silenced themselves to hear what the Director had to say.

"I know some of you are probably wondering what the deal with the truck is. We'll get to that. But before we do, Agent Redfield has something you all need to hear."

Every soldier looked to the B.S.A.A. veteran, Sheva and Barry looking intrigued.

"We all know who we're fighting against, who the enemy is. It's been almost seven years since we _first made_ an enemy out of them and that's seven years too long they've been allowed to keep operating. Alot of people have suffered because of them, some of them a little closer to our homes than others. We've dealt plenty of blows to them in the past, but it seems like no matter how many times we step on them, they just keep gettin' back up. I think we all agree that we need a new tactic."

Everyone began looking around curiously.

"I propose an alignment with a group of individuals who share our goals to stop what Umbrella's doing. Like us, they've seen the things that they're capable of...and Umbrella has struck at their own as well. They know the threat of their viruses and they intend stop it. They have tech and combat methods that could change the course of this war. Last night, with their help, we shut down three Umbrella sites simultaneously. Yemen being one of them."

Everyone reacted in surprise by this news, the Yemen facility being notoriously well protected.

" _And_ we've secured a sample of one of their vaccines that's currently in the process of being replicated."

That earned a positive response from his listeners. Sheva and Barry were growing increasingly interested.

"We have alot to gain by working with this group, taking down Umbrella being the greatest."

Chris paused and allowed his teammates to speak among themselves before revealing the truth.

"The thing is..."

Everyone was silent.

"This group isn't like others we've worked with in the past. One of them is here now. But before he shows himself to you all, you need to understand something."

The looks became concerned.

"This individual is one of the good guys. He's on our side and he's proven it to me personally on the field. When you see him, I urge to keep your instincts in check. He means no harm to us and wants to help our people."

"Our people?" Barry said to Sheva which was replied with a shrug.

"What I'm saying is...Don't shoot'em when you see'em."

Chris turned to look at Optimus Prime.

"Optimus."

They all looked confused once again, seeing one of their most respected officer speaking to a truck. Chris took a step back and allowed Optimus to transform. The truck began to shift it's parts around, earning several awed looks from the agents of the B.S.A.A. Optimus stood up from his alt form, allowing the final parts to move into place. With his signature peaceful expression, he stood over the many humans who looked up at him in shock and disbelief. He took one knee respectfully and bowed his head to his audience.

"An honor to meet you all."

None of them responded. Both Sheva and Barry looked to Chris, waiting for an answer.

"I'd like you all to meet Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, ambassador of Cybertron, and as of today, ally of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance."

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Ratchet was waiting for the call to return Optimus and Chris to base, along with the expected guests they were to bring with them. Normally, he'd be against the idea of having more humans taking up space in the Autobot headquarters. But for the sake of humanity, this was a sacrifice he'd make, one of many to come.

 _"Ratchet, we are ready to return."_

"Ground bridge on it's way, Optimus."

Ratchet input the coordinates and activated the bridge. Optimus walked through first with Redfield by his side. Behind him were several men of the military, looking none too settled after coming through the bridge. Ratchet always found it amusing to see how it affected human to come through the first few times.

"My bones feel like static." Sheva commented.

"Do you taste coconut and metal?" Barry followed.

"Whoah, guys look." Came from the youngest looking of the three, a brown haired man named Piers Nevans.

All of the soldiers looked up and saw the orange and white Autobot observing from the controls.

"Welcome to Outpost Omega One, base of operations to the Autobots and Team Prime." Optimus spoke. The soldiers couldn't ignore the powerful voice the Prime carried.

"And for the time being, our base of operations as well. Having said that, I expect all of you conduct yourselves with respect for our new ally's home. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir." They all said, still in awe struck of the two Autobots before them.

"Down the corridor, you will find several open areas that will be your barracks for the time being. Get yourselves situated and be prepared for briefing at zero six hundred hours."

Chris clapped his hands together.

"Hop to, people."

The soldiers managed to disperse at command, but Chris stopped Sheva and Barry.

"Hold on, I need you guys with me."

"Chris, what's going on?" Barry questioned.

"Look Barry, I know this is all alot to take in."

"All do respect, Captain. Even in our line of work, aliens is a bit out there for us." Sheva replied, getting a sigh from Chris.

"Look, I know you're both wondering how this all came to be and I'll explain all that later, but I need you both with me on this."

The two agents looked puzzled.

"What's going on, Chris?" Sheva asked.

"Just come with me and I'll show you."

Chris led Sheva and Barry down the hall, leaving Optimus alone with Ratchet.

"Fowler will not be happy when he learns about this." Ratchet commented.

"He will understand."

Optimus became concerned.

"How is...Jackson?"

Ratchet's grim reaction did not sit well with Optimus.

"I think it's best if Rebecca and Jill explain it."

The two walked down the same hall to where the other Autobot's were. As they did, Optimus mentally prepared himself for he was about to learn.

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Barry and Sheva looked on at the sleeping mother and son. Jack was resting peacefully while June slept in her chair, holding his hand. Chris found comfort in knowing that Jack was able to sleep calmly.

"I know that woman." Barry commented.

"You rescued her, her son, and Jill six years ago."

Barry took the look of realization while Sheva just looked confused.

"Hold on, what about six years ago?"

Barry paused to recall the event.

"When Raccoon City went dark, I flew out there in a chopper to find Jill and Brad. I got her S.O.S. and rendezvoused with her at a waste disposal factory, but she wasn't alone. She had a woman with her and her ten year old son...Wait, is that kid..."

"Yep, that's him."

"Damn...he grew."

"Hold on. You never told me about this, Barry. _Jill_ never told me about this." Sheva mentioned

"Here's something she didn't tell either of you. The kid was bitten by a zombie before you saved them."

Both agents turned their heads to look at Chris, both with startled expressions.

"It gets worse...Look closer."

Barry took a few quiet steps towards the two, not wanting to wake them. He saw the bandage over Jack's eye and looked away quickly. He walked back over to Chris and Sheva.

"What happened to his eye?"

"Umbrella has it."

Barry, who had been at the mercy of Umbrella before, became stone faced. Sheva gasped when she heard Chris' answer.

"Why?" Barry asked too calmly.

"He got bit and got cured, why wouldn't they be interested in him?"

"And I suppose just taking his blood was too humane?"

"That surprises you?"

"Of course not. Umbrella never misses a chance to be needlessly cruel. My guess is they wanted break him before he could try to get away, those monsters." Sheva jumped in.

"So what do you think's gonna happen if they get their hands on him again?"

Barry closed his eyes to not think about it while Sheva bit the nail of her thumb as she looked on at Umbrella's victim.

"We can't let them" She answered.

"Exactly...I need you two in the circle on this. Umbrella is after this kid and we need to keep him safe. You're two of the few I really trust with this sort of thing?"

"I'm in, Chris." Sheva stated as she kept her eyes on the teen. "I've seen too many children die by Umbrella's hands. I'll help you protect this one."

"Barry?"

"Chris, Umbrella threatened my family. Now, they threaten this one. Do you really need to ask?"

Chris smiled and took a firm grip on Barry's shoulder, shaking it in a brotherly manner.

"C'mon, let's go find the others. Jill and Becca's gotta be here somewhere."

"Wait, I figured Jill was involved in this, but Rebecca too?" Barry asked.

"Kid needed a doctor."

They all looked at June and Jack one more time before leaving.

"They're gonna need more than a doctor when this is over." Barry commented.

He was right. Just as they left, Jack began to stir in his sleep as another nightmare took hold on him.

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Team Prime, along with Jill and Rebecca were discussing the nature of Jack's unique condition. Optimus was having a difficult time understanding exactly what was wrong with his DNA. Before Rebecca could go into detail about the nature of Jack's blood, Chris had entered the room with Barry and Sheva.

"Sheva, Barry?" She asked quizzically.

Chris took to introducing everyone.

"Guys, this is Barry Burton and Sheva Alomar. From left to right we have Ratchet, you've met Optimus, that's Bulkhead, Arcee, and Batman in the corner over there is called Bumblebee."

Bumblebee responded again with a series of confused beeps at Chris' addressing him.

"A...pleasure." Sheva greeted meekly.

"Barry Burton...You were the one who flew Jack and June out of Raccoon City." Arcee commented.

"I did." Barry responded.

"Thank you...You saved their lives."

"Just did what I was trained to do."

Arcee nodded respectfully which was returned in the same manner.

"Agent Chambers was just explaining to us what they had discovered in Jackson's blood." Optimus informed the three new arrivals, Chris in particular.

"What's wrong with his blood?" He asked.

Everyone looked to Rebecca who took a deep breath before trying to think of a simpler way to put it.

"When Jack was bitten, the virus entered his bloodstream. The rate of infection depends on the size of the host as well as the immune system. For a ten year old child, it really shouldn't have taken more than an hour for him to become...well, you know what happens when you get bit. Jack, however, held off mutation for well over two hours, possibly three if Jill is remembering correctly."

Chris furrowed his brow as he tried to make sense of what Rebecca was saying.

"You're saying he had an immunity?"

"That's what I can gather. Somehow, he fought off being turned for much longer than any adult has ever been able to."

Optimus was able to understand this explanation better than the more elaborate one that she had given earlier.

"However, the virus was bound to take effect regardless. He had the symptoms of mutation and would've succumbed to the virus eventually."

She took another breath before continuing.

"Jack's blood still has traces of the virus, but it's virtually harmless."

She looked around and saw different expressions from everyone. Most of the Autobots had already known this, but Chris, Optimus, Sheva, and Barry were all shocked and confused.

"I took samples of my blood, Jill's, and June's and mixed them separately with Jack's. What was left of the virus was killed in seconds."

"So the vaccine didn't cure it, it weakened it." Chris concluded, but Jill's and Rebecca's expression didn't seem to agree.

"I don't think so. I think it was Jack's blood that weakened it."

Optimus became thoughtful as Rebecca continued on.

"Alright, so Jacks was told that the vaccine was a failure, right? This is all purely theoretical here and I'm well out of my element. But it all comes down to the vaccine and his blood. If it doesn't work on humans, maybe Jackson was able to soften the virus up for it to do it's job. I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here. What we need is someone who really knows what they're doing to take a look at it and an unaltered sample of the T-Virus to test it against."

"Absolutely not. I will not have that disease anywhere near this base or the children." Ratchet immediately protested.

"Of course not, Doctor Ratchet. What we need is to get a sample of his blood to our labs and see what our guys can make of it." Chris replied.

"We might need more than what we have." Rebecca added.

Arcee looked at Rebecca sternly.

"With his consent, obviously." She followed up nervously.

"That's gonna have to wait 'till tomorrow. Jack's already asleep." Jill informed the group.

"If I got this correctly..." Sheva began. "...Jackson's blood has either weakened the virus or strengthened the vaccine. In either case, he could potentially be a cure for the infection."

Chris and Barry both looked to Sheva with realization, but the sentiment was not shared by everyone else.

"This is a good thing, right?" She questioned.

Jill kept her arms cross and her eyes to the ground.

"Albert Wesker isn't dead."

Barry looked up in shock.

"Jack confirmed that for me."

"Jill, I watched him die." Barry replied.

"I don't know how...but he is still alive...And he knows what we know. He knows more than what we know. He has every reason to get Jackson back."

Jill walked over to Arcee, who looked as dark as she did.

"There's no telling what he'll do to Jack if he captures him again, or what will come of it. Jack might be our miracle cure, or he could be Wesker's ultimate weapon."

She looked back at her partner.

"I'll die before I let that happen."

The atmosphere became dark as the Jill's implication hung over everyone's heads and helms. Arcee felt a powerful need to see her charge. She exited the room and headed for Jackson's quarters. She reached her destination and peeked into the storage room. She looked on with relief as Jack was lying with his back to her. She wanted to be closer to him, but didn't want to risk waking him. Instead, she sat where she was and watched over him closely.

Little did she know, Jack was not asleep. He was fully awake and aware of her presence. He was thankful that she kept her distance, unable to see his uncontrollable trembling. His sleep was plagued with images of his mother, Miko, and Rafael, all being tortured at the hands of the man who butchered him. He didn't want to even blink, for fear of falling asleep again and seeing that sadistic human being doing to them what he had done to him. His voice was still so clear in his head and he could remember his last words to him before passing out from the pain he caused.

 _"Understand Jackson, that this is just the beginning. But if you cooperate, it may not have to be so barbaric. But erase any notions of escaping us from your head. Umbrella owns you now, from your eye to the marrow in your bones. If you try and run from us, we will harvest every bit of you as slowly and painfully as possible. And as for your mother, behave yourself and I'll give her a quick death. Test me and you will watch as my weapons rip her open and tear her limb from limb. Like I told you before, her fate is in your hands."_

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Inside of a church in the heart of Moscow, a woman was sitting patiently. A tall figure entered the house of faith, mockingly blessing himself before the crucifix hanging above the altar. He took a seat in the aisles behind the woman.

"Are you a woman of faith, Ms. Wong?"

Ada smirked at the idea.

"Faith implies trust and I don't trust anyone but myself."

Wesker laughed slightly, leaning back into his seat.

"Only a fool would do otherwise. Faith and trust...it's why there are so many victims in the world...Do you have what I came for?"

Ada pulled out a flash drive and held it behind her for Wesker to take. In exchange, he handed her a small data pad that displayed various numbers and figures. It was to show the second half of her payment being transferred into her "ghost" account. Once she confirmed that she was payed for her services, she handed it back to Wesker.

"Just so you know, Leland is on to you. He knows that you're the only one who would've sent me."

"If I thought enough of that fool to consider him a threat on any level, I would've killed him years ago. It's fortunate for him that I haven't tested any of my new weapons on him or his men."

"Then why the interest in them?"

"You're not paid to know that. Speaking of which, I have another job available if you're interested."

Ada turned looked over her shoulder with a wry smirk.

"That didn't take long." She turned back around. "I hope it's more fun than stealing intel from M.E.C.H."

"I need you to find a certain someone and bring him to me."

"Hm, kidnapping? Not my favorite kind of job. So, who's the poor soul that's destined to meet Albert Wesker face to face?"

"Jackson Darby."

Ada's became confused, looking over her shoulder once again.

"I don't know who that is."

"You wouldn't, but he's valuable to Umbrella."

"Wesker, I may not know much about every man I've ever brought to you, but I at least knew who they were in your network. You gotta give me more on this 'Jackson Darby'."

"I have no files on him, but a quick search should tell you all you need to know."

Suspicions were being raised with Ada. She took a moment to figure out what Wesker was not telling her.

"He's a civilian, isn't he?"

Wesker replied by saying nothing.

"That's why you didn't bring any files on him. You wanted me to take the job before I found out."

"Is this really a problem for you?"

"I'll go after a dirty suit and drop'em at your feet, no problem. I never had any love for those corporate types, anyway. But I'm not gonna leave some average nobody at the mercy you don't have. I'm not interested, find someone else."

"When has this ever been a concern for you? You've brought plenty of civilians to me in the past. If you never knew, it was because you never asked because you never cared. Tell me Ms. Wong, when did _you_ get a conscience?"

Ada simply got up from the aisle and headed for the door.

"A pleasure as always, Wesker." She said sarcastically.

Wesker grabbed her arm and kept her from leaving. Her eyes tensed hardened with anger...and nervousness. She was well aware of his unusual strength.

"That blonde cop has make you weak. I'd be doing you a favor by getting rid of him."

She hid it well, but Ada felt a spike of anger at Wesker threatening Leon. She pulled her arm away and looked at him without breaking her facade of apathy.

"Good luck. Just remember that he took down your man, Krauser. I wouldn't take that _blonde cop_ lightly."

Ada walked out of the church, leaving Wesker alone. After a few moments, he did the same. Ada watched from around the corner of a building for Wesker to leave. Once she was sure that he was gone, she began looking into her intended target. From her own datapad, she did a quick search on Jackson Darby. What she found had made her feel uneasy.

"He's just a kid. What the hell would you want with a boy like him, Wesker?"

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Jack was beginning to feel lightheaded with all the blood Rebecca was taking from him.

"Sorry, Jacks. We're almost done here."she said with sympathy.

Jill was there as well, pouring Jack another cup of juice to keep his fluids up.

"You okay, Jack?"

"Other than feeling like a walking dart board, I guess."

Even in his pale state, Jill could tell that Jack didn't get much sleep the night before. True, he was unconscious for most of that day. But he seemed to be struggling not to drift away, afraid even. This concerned Jill.

"Are...are you sure I'm not contagious?"

"Don't worry, Jack. Rebecca did all the tests and your blood can't infect anyone."

"But I _do_ still have the virus."

"Yes Jackson, you do. But it's harmless, barely a germ at this point."

"So why do you need my blood?"

"To see why it's so weak inside of you. Your blood is different, that much we know."

"All done." Rebecca said in a chipper tone as she put the last vial of blood in a cooler. "Want a lollipop?"

"Ha Ha." Jack said dryly.

"Lighten up, Jacks. Today's a good day. For one, you're not a threat to anyone."

Rebecca took the cooler and left to look for Ratchet.

"She's...nice." Jack said.

"She's right, you know. You're no threat to any of us."

Jill stood up in front of Jack.

"Can you do something for me, Jack?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Leave this room and go be with your friends. Let me and the 'Bots worry about Umbrella and your blood. You don't have to close yourself off from everyone in here. Your friends have been worried about you, especially the little one."

Jack thought about how sad Rafael was when he woke up. He really wanted to make him feel better.

"You promise they'll be okay?"

"Would I risk it, if you weren't? Get out of here, Jack. Be a kid for just a little bit."

Jack was still uncertain, but he didn't want to keep worrying everyone. He looked at Jill who was smiling at him with encouragement. She was as worried about him as anyone. Jack hugged her, feeling grateful that she was there.

"Thank you...for coming back."

"A promise is a promise, Jack."

They pulled away and Jack was about to leave.

"Oh, wait a second."

Jill reach into her back pouch and held something that Jack couldn't see in her hand.

"This was Rebecca's idea."

She placed something over Jack's head pulled it over his eye. Jack looked at a nearby mirror and saw that it was a black medical eye patch over his bandage.

"She was right, it does look good on you."

Jack smiled a bit, though it felt weird to wear it.

"I guess it's better to look at than a bloody bandage. Thanks, Jill."

"Go, Jack. Black Widow and Hawkeye are waiting for you."

"Ha, you're hilarious."

Before he left the room, Jill stopped him again by taking his shoulder as he passed.

"Hey...you'll be alright, Jack. I promise."

For the moment, Jack felt okay. He left Jill in the room alone, who was cautiously optimistic for the things to come.

"We'll get you to the other side of this."

Jack was making his may back to the main hall, walking past a few unknown soldiers. Everyone glanced at him at they walked by, wondering who he was and taking notice of his eye patch. Jack felt odd around these strangers, hoping none of them would ask about his new accessory. When he entered the main hall, he expected to see Ratchet, but he was not present. However, he did hear the rowdiness of Miko on the platform. Jack took a deep breath and prepared to properly greet his friends for the first time since he woke up. He made his way up the steps and saw them playing their favorite racing game once again.

"Hey guys." He said nervously.

Both of them stopped playing suddenly and turned to see him standing there.

"JACK!" They yelled together in excitement.

Raf jumped from the couch with Miko close behind. Jack nearly fell back down the steps when Rafael collided into him and took hold of his waist. He had left enough space for Miko grab onto Jack from the side. Neither gave any care to whatever virus he might've been carrying.

"You're okay." Raf said, voice on the verge of cracking.

Jack didn't know how to react. He expected them to be weary of him, but they weren't.

"You had us worried, jerk!" Miko said, tightening her hold.

Jack held the two of them close, never wanting to be away from them again. He never wanted them to worry again, or to see them cry.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm okay..." Jack felt a tear or two fall from his face. "I'm okay."

When they pulled away, Jack saw that they were both crying as well. Miko wiped away her tears with her arm, a relieved smile on her face.

"I like your eye patch. It makes you look like Solid Snake."

Jack laughed a little, happy to just be back with his friends, his family. Raf had let go, but still staying close.

"Miko's gotten better at racing, wanna to play the next game."

"Sure, that'd be great."

Jack walked over to the couch and sat in the center. Miko and Raf sat on either side of him. Miko handed him the controller and they started their game. After only a few moments, things were as they always had been. For this brief moment in time, Jack was a normal kid. Despite his eye, he didn't think about Umbrella or the T-Virus. All that mattered were his two closest human friends. If only things could always be like this.

From behind the platforms, Optimus was watching them. When he returned from Yemen with Chris, he forced himself to remember Jack in the state he was in. That was to remember what he wanted to keep from happening again. Now he wanted to remember what he was fighting to protect. By the time this was over, Jack, Miko, and Rafael wouldn't know the fear of Umbrella anymore. Regardless of how it was done, the Prime would see to it they they would be safe from the corrupt organization.

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Wesker was reading over the many files stolen from M.E.C.H. and for the first time in his life, was at a complete loss. These beings were not of Earth origins, but from a planet known as Cybertron. They were known as Cybertronians, divided into two factions, Autobots and Decepticons. Apparently, Earth had become the new battleground for their war and M.E.C.H. wanted to know the secrets to not only their technology, but also their bodies. Of course Leland would be so arrogant to think that he could duplicate superior technology from another world. While Wesker was intrigued by these beings and wondered how Jackson Darby came to know them, all that mattered was that they were standing between him and the boy. Worse yet, they had a means of attacking three of their facilities simultaneously. The Tyrant proved that they could be hurt. Somewhere in these files was the secret to killing them more efficiently.

"Sir."

Wesker looked up to see Russell waiting for him.

"Everything is ready."

Wesker stored his files away and led his subordinate out of the room and into the observation area over the testing area. Beneath them, Joshua Darby was strapped down into a cryo-pod that had yet to be sealed. Several scientist were operating electronic systems around him as he pleaded with them to let him go. Wesker found the sight of this man pathetic. Not only did he surrender the location of his wife and son after enduring little more than a beat down, but now he was crying out for mercy. How Jackson could've come from someone like him, he didn't know. One of the scientist walked over to Joshua with a syringe filled with a sinister looking purple substance. Joshua jerked away as best as he could and pleaded to keep from being injected, but another scientist held him down with great force. The substance was injected successfully and the effects were already beginning to take hold. Before the mutation could begin, another scientist input a few commands on the console and the pod was sealed around Joshua. The scientist then proceeded to move the pod to another location.

"Sir, what exactly are our plans for this one?"

Wesker smiled as he thought of his intentions for the man and his son.

"Joshua Darby's blood may not have the same 'adaptive' properties as his son Jackson, but he serves an even greater purpose. That was the G-Virus he was just injected with."

Russell seemed alarmed by this.

"I don't mean to question you, sir. But are you sure that's wise? You do remember what Professor Birkin had done to our operatives in Raccoon City?"

"I remember perfectly. I especially remember his daughter, Sherry. The embryo he implanted in her would've adapted to her body because of their shared D.N.A. had Claire Redfield not interfered. When we locate Jackson Darby, I intend to set his father upon him to do the same. With his unique blood and their shared D.N.A., the level of adaption should be even greater. Jackson may very well be the missing component to creating the perfect human being. If all goes according to plan, he will be the start of a superior race."

Wesker had to laugh at the irony of it all. That Jackson, the key to human evolution, a boy who had survived a bite from a zombie and withstood having his eye removed, could be the son of such a weak coward like Joshua Darby. Nature did have a sense of humor, it seemed.

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 **Ya'know, I knew I was a lightweight. The last time I got drunk, it was off of Mike's Hard Lemonade. I don't think I had more than two or three and I was effed up. With that knowledge, you'd think I'd know better than to drink so much wine and champagne at my sister's new years eve party. What has two thumbs and is a freaking idiot? This dumbass!**

 **The reason I bring this up is because I wanted to have the chapter finished by New Years Day. But when I finished writing the last half, I was nursing a Nemesis level hangover. I read what I had the next day...Yeah I had to scrap that crap. So many errors and obviously rushed writing, clearly my heart wasn't in it. So I started from scratch which is why I got it up so late.**

 **Okay, so lets talk about the Resident Evil cannon since I brought Sheva and Piers into the mix. The story follows most of the cannon up until Resident Evil 5. Chris and Sheva did do a mission in Africa together, but it wasn't the same as in the game. Jill never disappeared after a battle with Wesker or put under his control. As of now, there is a Plaga Virus but not the Uroboros, which I'm still debating on bringing either into the story. Tricell doesn't exist and the events of Resident Evil 6 didn't happen which means Piers meeting with Chris happened under different circumstances. Also, I'm ignoring Resident Evil 0 and Code Veronica because I have never played those games. So for all the RE fans among my readers, hopefully this clears up any confusions.**

 **Now, Rebecca is very out of character in this chapter. I have only seen her in the first game and I know that she's no scientist. I'm going by the logic that as a medic, she knows enough about the virus to know it's basic functions and how it's interacting with Jack's blood. Hopefully, I haven't gone too far off the rails. Also, Rebecca's explanation is not the full extent of Jack's blood. I'll be sure to go into more detail in the next chapter.  
**

 **I've still got a few more tracks to lay down before the action really kicks off. When it does, I'm gonna try to include a few players from the TFP cannon. Stick with me until then and lets head off into the new year. Salutations brothers and sisters.**

 **Oh, and words of wisdom. If you don't drink...don't drink.**


	16. Chapter 16

Washington, DC 10:00 PM

Ada Wong sat and waited in one of the seats of a second level outdoor dining area. The ritzy restaurant was closed for the day and the section was closed off by a chain, as if a chain would stop Ada. She looked over the balcony and saw a few late nighters moving among the streets, going about their lives. Sometimes she wished that she could live without a care like they did. But she knew far too much about the power structure of this world to live in blissfull ignorance. To be so uninformed would be the same as being helpless, something she never was. However, she had moments where she wished she could allow herself to be careless, to be in a bubble where the problems of the world didn't exist, if only for a moment. She wished to share that bubble with only one person.

'Click'

Speak of the handsome devil.

"Didn't your mother teach you that it's rude to keep a lady waiting."

She turned to the man pointing a gun at her, paying no attention to said weapon.

"It's also rude to pull a gun on your date."

He was employee of the U.S. Government, agent of the D.S.O, and a bit of a hero after he rescued the President's daughter from a savage cult in the mountains of Spain. But if you took one look at him, you might mistake him for a model of some sort. His perfect blonde hair, movie star face, his five o'clock shadow, the Christopher Nolan wardrobe didn't hurt either. Ada always had a thing for a man who knew how to dress. This was Leon Scott Kennedy, the only man who had ever pierced her bulletproof heart. The only person in the world she trusted, which is why he was here now.

Leon holstered his weapon, but kept his guard up. Ada always found it adorable how he rightfully distrusted her despite their "relationship".

"That's more like it. It's been a while, Leon. You look as stylish as ever. The waistcoat and pants combo suits you better than that ridiculous police uniform."

"Why did you call me out here, Ada? You know I can bring you in."

She smiled at his empty threat.

"You could, but you won't. Besides, I'd just escape anyway. You know I would."

Leon sighed, Ada having made him put up with this in the past.

"Ada, you called me out here for a reason."

"Maybe I just wanted to see you."

She strolled over to him, swaying her hips a bit as she did. She stood before him as he cautiously watched her, as if expecting her to attack. She smiled at him, finding his distrust amusing.

"It's been a year since Spain, six since Raccoon City."

She lightly placed her hand on his chest, below the shoulder. She made sure to press against it to feel the muscle beneath. He was beginning to relax now, dropping his guard a little. She could make a move and attack him if she wanted. Lucky for him, she wanted to attack him in a very different way.

"Maybe I wanted to finish what we started back then."

Her other hand found the back of his neck and she brought her face closer to his.

"Six years is a _very_ long time."

She could feel his breath and was about to close the gap between them. Then she felt his strong grip on both of her arms and they weren't pulling her closer. She pulled away and saw that he had a serious expression on his face. This caused her to sigh in defeat.

"You're no fun sometimes, Leon."

That was a lie. She always loved it when he became too serious. It made her laugh that she could bring that out of him.

"Ada, now is not the time."

She sighed again and took a step back. She remembered what she was there for. She casually looked to her side at the street below, feigning disinterest.

"Jackson Darby, ever heard of him in your little government circle?"

Leon looked confused. Clearly he didn't.

"No, I haven't. Is he someone I should know?"

Ada paused, her concerned expression betraying her for a moment.

"I don't know." The same concern was in her voice. "But someone just offered me a great deal of money to bring him in."

"Who?"

Her face betrayed her again, this time with a slight look of contempt.

"Someone very dangerous, that's all I can tell you."

"You mean someone in Umbrella?"

She kept her face to the streets, but moved her eyes to Leon.

"What does he want with him?"

She shook her head lightly.

"Don't know."

"So why are you telling me about it? Why aren't you off looking for the guy? If the money is that good, why turn it down?"

She held a good poker face, but she did feel a little hurt by what Leon was implying. Only he could make her feel such things.

"He's a nobody...a peasant in the eyes of Umbrella."

Leon waited silently, clearly wanting more from her.

"I'm not that heartless, Leon. I wouldn't wish the worst of Umbrella onto anyone who isn't from our world. There's only one reason a regular joe would be on their radar, he has something that they want. We both know how far they'll go to get it...and what they might do once they have it."

She finally looked back at him, who still looked skeptical.

"What else?"

"There is nothing else."

"You're lying, there's more to it than that."

Now she was losing patience.

"I've told you all I can. Look into for yourself if you want more. Like I said, he's just a civilian. A quick Google search should tell you all you need to know. I did my part. Whether you do yours is up to you."

She walked past him, clearly not happy. Leon grabbed her arm before she got too far. Unlike with Wesker, she didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry if I don't fully trust you. But you've played games with me before."

This wasn't a lie and Ada felt bad at the few times her games had almost led to his death. It was all at the behest of her clients and Leon was often caught in the middle of it. It was hard to blame him for his distrust.

"But I know you're not the same as them. You've proven that to me in the past."

He let go of her arm, but she didn't leave just yet.

"I'll do what I can. Thank you, Ada."

She smiled a bit, forgiving him for the time being. She wasn't his enemy and she didn't want to be. She turned around with a smirk and placed her hand on his back.

"Keep in touch, handsome."

With that, she walked away. Wesker was right, Leon was her only weakness. But it was a weakness she was grateful for. But it was also a weakness that could be exploited, which is why she had to keep her distance. She didn't tell him about Jackson being just a teenager because she knew what he would do. If he knew that harming kids was a line that she wouldn't cross, he would've asked her to help him protect the boy. One of his many attempts to get her to leave her life behind. She was afraid of not being able to say no to him in protecting Jackson Darby. That would have shown her weakness and ruined her reputation. More importantly, it would've left her bleeding in a tank full of hungry sharks. She was long past the point of redemption and rooted firmly in a world where survival of the fittest was law, where weakness can get you killed. And with Umbrella, death was the just the beginning what they could do.

Leon left the area, patching into his communication line.

"Did you get all that, Hannigan?"

 _"Got it. Searching the name Jackson Darby now."_ A feminine voice replied.

Leon waited for Hannigan to provide some intel.

 _"Got a few Jackson Darby's on file. Trying to narrow the search down to someone of interest. Nothing that connects with Umbrella so far."_

"Guess Ada was telling the truth about the guy being a civilian."

 _"Okay...I think I found something. A few dozen Darby's resided in Raccoon City at the time of the outbreak. That can't be a coincidence."_

"It isn't, look deeper."

A few more moments passed.

 _"I've got something, Leon."_

"Let's hear it."

 _"Okay, there are three surviving Darby's that lived in Raccoon City when the outbreak happened, all from the same family. One of them is a Jackson."_

"Three, huh? How did they escape the city?"

 _"I don't know, but two of them are living out in the west coast...Leon."_

There was worry in her voice.

"What is it?"

 _"Says here that Jackson Darby lives with his mother in some town in the middle of nowhere, Nevada called Jasper...he's only sixteen."_

"What?"

Now he understood why Ada brought this matter to him. During there journey through Raccoon City, Ada had mentioned William Birkin's daughter Sherry with a noticeable degree of sympathy. She clearly didn't like the idea of a child being involved in that mess.

 _"That means he would've been ten when it all happened, that poor kid. His father, Joshua Darby, apparently divorced her and moved to Detroit about a year after the incident. You think this is just Umbrella trying to cover their tracks?"_

"Ada mentioned a Jackson but no June or Joshua. Umbrella would've wanted all three of them."

 _"Leon, I've found something else."_

"Now what?"

 _"Joshua Darby entered Ontario a few weeks ago. His girlfriend has since filed a missing persons report."_

Leon thought hard about this. Umbrella was known to have a few agents in Canada and Alaska. He wondered why Joshua Darby had gone there and how Umbrella had caught up to him and not the other two.

 _"Leon, Ada was right. This kid and his mother are in trouble."_

"No kidding...That town though, Jasper. I know I've heard it somewhere before."

 _"It's a really small town in the desert. Kind of a crappy town if this kid's Facebook is anything to go by. I mean, 'Entertainment Capital of the World'? Are they kidding?"_

"Wait, say that again?"

 _"Entertainment Capital of the World, that's what it says on the brochure."_

"I know I've heard someone say the same thing before...Hannigan, find out what you can about that whole family."

 _"What are you thinking, Leon?"_

"I think I might know someone who could help us."

Leon finally made his way to his vehicle, a black SUV, and headed back to the White House. He needed to find Agent William Fowler. He remembered the man complaining about his detail in some dinky town in Nevada, even making a similar observation about the town's grand statement. He might know something about this Jackson kid...or he could be hiding something. Leon knew that Umbrella had rooted itself pretty deep and wasn't sure of who to trust. Hopefully, Fowler could help him. If not, Leon could be setting himself up for a trap.

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The Autobots stood around the main hall along with Jill, Chris, Barry, Rebecca, Sheva, Piers, and Josh Stone of the West African Branch. He was brought in as advised by Sheva. Director O'Brian remained in Arizona to oversee the remaining troops. The topic of the day was Jackson and taking down Umbrella.

"How long before Jackson's blood analysis comes back?" Optimus inquired.

"Hard to say." Rebecca answered. "They're gonna run all sorts of tests on his blood to see what it can and can't do. After that, they're gonna try and figure out where to go from there, ya'know, deciding what to do with his blood."

Things became uncomfortably quiet, as if everyone was expecting a better answer from her.

"Soooo, it might take a while." Rebecca said nervously.

"What about Umbrella?" Arcee spoke up, much to Rebecca's relief. "We gonna take them down, or not?"

"Patience, Arcee." The Prime advised. "Our next move on Umbrella must be handled carefully. Do not forget that we still operate under the government who may take action against us once we strike at them."

"Jill says they've got some more intel on Umbrella sites. Our best bet is to shut them down one by one." Arcee added.

"That would not be wise, Ms. Arcee." Josh spoke for the first time. "Understand that what we have on Umbrella is the mere tip of the iceberg. There could be far more facilities that we have yet to discover. That is to say nothing of who they have within world leadership. The United States were not the only ones in bed with Umbrella."

"He's right." Barry came into the conversation. "When the bubble burst, several members of the EU mysteriously disappeared without a trace and one VIP from South Korea killed himself without explanation. Umbrella still has some friends in high places. It's gonna be hard to make a move without knowing who they are."

"I suppose that means we have to wait on Fowler." Ratchet voiced his opinions. "That is, _if_ we can trust him."

"I believe that Agent Fowler is a man of his word." Optimus replied.

"Still, we can't just sit around and wait for him to come back. For all we know, he may never come back." Arcee answered back.

"Unfortunately, that _is_ a possibility." The Prime answered back.

"The who's who in Umbrella's structure is something we have to worry about further down the line." Jill began. "But right now, we have a clear enemy in front of us. Albert Wesker is the one we need to be worried about."

Every Autobot and Agent tensed up at the mention of Wesker.

"Wesker is the take charge type. I'd bet my life that he's plotting something in whatever rock he's hiding under. Before Umbrella had him infiltrate the R.P.D., he oversaw some the worst experiments in the Arklay Mountain facility. I won't go into details, but he had a personal hand in some of the most horrific things Umbrella has done. Whatever he has planned for Jack, he's going to be the one that oversees it. He's our biggest threat right now and the first one we need to take down."

Everyone seemed to agree with Jill, Arcee and Chris especially.

"So how do we go about finding this Wesker guy?" Arcee asked.

Jill sighed.

"I haven't figured that part out yet."

The group became quiet once again.

 **"He said Jack was property."**

The Autobots looked to Bumblebee but the rest couldn't understand him.

 **"He promised he'd come back for him...And I've been thinking."**

The BSAA agents were all confused by the Bumblebee's beeps but the Autobots were giving him his full attention.

 **"What about the others?"**

The 'Bots became worried at the realization. Raf and Miko had called in sick from school for the last few days, but they couldn't stay at the base forever. They would eventually have to go back and Umbrella would be back as well to find Jackson. There was no telling how far they would go to get to him. Both Bulkhead and Bumblebee shuttered at the thought.

"We can't leave Raf and Miko alone." The green mech stated. "We have to stay with them 24/7, even when they're at school."

"That may not be possible, Bulkhead." Optimus replied.

"But Optimus..." He replied back.

"I understand your worry and will allow you to keep close watch over Miko during her time in school. However, we must not forget that we are still at war with the Decepticons. Megatron has been quiet for some time now. We have not seen any activity from him or the Decepticons since the day Jackson was taken. We cannot assume that they will remain inactive while we deal with this situation involving Umbrella. If and when they do strike at us again, you must be ready to help us stop whatever plans they have in motion."

"But that'll leave her and Raf unprotected while we deal with the 'Cons."

Bumblebee beeped something in favor of Bulkhead's argument.

"We can help you guys with that." Chris stepped forward to say. "The BSAA has plenty of men to spare. We can put eyes on the kids while you all do your thing. We won't let anyone from Umbrella get within spitting distance of them."

Arcee then stepped forward.

"We appreciate the assistance and it does help. But if Umbrella spots you, it's kind of the same as painting a target on their backs."

"Don't worry, 'Cee." Jill answered back. "We may not be be able to transform into vehicles, but we know how to be discreet."

"Very well." Optimus accepted. "We will entrust the children to your protection in our absence. However, we must also take their families into consideration."

"We got that covered too, Op" Chris assured.

"Then it is settled...But that still leaves the question of how to go about dealing with Umbrella." Optimus stated.

"If they are in Jasper searching for Jack, we could always capture one and bring them here." Ratchet spoke.

"Not gonna work." Arcee replied. "None of Umbrella's guys will think to cross them for us. Considering what Jill says happens to traitors, I don't blame them."

"Then we have no other option." Optimus concluded. "We must wait for Fowler's return."

None of them were particularly happy about this, but for the moment, there was nothing to be done. Unbeknownst to any of them, Jack was listening from the corridor the entire time. As he walked back to his quarters, he was thinking to himself about the situation. There was one way to root out Umbrella and Wesker, but he knew that neither the Autobots nor the BSAA wouldn't be on board with it. He himself wasn't all that on board with it, considering what he would have to do. But after hearing about the dangers Miko, Raf, and their families might be in, he was beginning to see it as his only option.

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It wasn't noticeable on the surface, but Fowler was a paranoid wreck right now. He had been ever since he'd left the Autobot base a few days ago. Every colleague he passed, he had to wonder if Umbrella had gotten to them. Fowler didn't know who he could trust, so he kept to himself. This earned him some strange looks from the people he had worked with for years. But that was nothing compared to when he would do some digging on said colleagues. Despite all the steps he took to remain off of anyone's radar, using his computer in safe houses that weren't connected to him, using various programs to hide his activity and erase any cyber-footprints he might've left behind, Fowler found himself too afraid to go much further than checking the bank records of some of his higher-ups. That alone was enough to concern him. Many officials had an alarming amount of excess funds that could not have come from their salary. This is of course was not uncommon within the government by any means. But a few of them were some of the many people he had seen shaking hands with some of Umbrella's officials and others who worked closely with these same government officials. Fowler felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole, only he did not want to go any further. He was afraid that if he did, it wouldn't be long before members of congress or worse yet, the president who he answered to, turned out to be sharing a bed with Umbrella. As he walked through the government building where he was receiving intel on possible M.E.C.H. activity, trying desperately not to make eye contact with anyone, he debated whether or not he should seek Rafael's help. The kid apparently had hacked Government files long before he had even got involved with the Autobots, somehow never learning about the Raccoon City cover up. If anyone could separate Umbrella's puppets from the rest, it was him. But Fowler couldn't ask him for his help. If Raf was discovered, it would be him and his family that would pay the price. No, he was the 'Bot's inside man. He was on his own now. Optimus was counting on him, so was June...so was Jack.

"Agent Fowler."

Fowler looked behind him and saw Leon Scott Kennedy flagging him down from down the hall. Leon was a bit of a legend in Washington, having saved the Presidents daughter from some religious cult in Spain. The two had crossed paths many times, but rarely shared a word or two with each other. As Kennedy approached him, Fowler wondered if even a hero like this could be in Umbrella's pocket.

"Agent Fowler, Leon Kennedy." The pretty boy agent greeted.

"I know who you are, Kennedy. Everyone in building knows who you are."

Leon smirked in response.

"Can we talk for a second?"

Fowler's defenses for already up.

"Sure."

The two went into an empty office and took a seat on either side of a small table.

"Fowler, you're based out here in DC right?"

"I am."

"Yet, you're always taking your business to some town in Nevada."

Fowler tried not the tense up. Kennedy knowing that could mean nothing.

"Not the most exciting town, but yeah."

"Jasper, right? Entertainment Capital of The World?"

It still didn't mean anything that he was asking, but Fowler was getting increasingly nervous.

"The brochure lied."

"Eh, gotta lure the tourists in somehow...What exactly do you do out there, anyway?"

Now he was getting suspicious.

"That's classified information, Agent Kennedy. You have heard of compartmentalization, haven't you?"

Now Kennedy was looking suspicious, clearly not liking Fowler's answer.

"Yes, I have. A concept that's often abused, don't you think?"

"I agree, but what can you do? You never know who to trust in this line of work."

Both agents were now in a mental game of wits, trying to get a bead on one another.

"Why the interest in my department, Kennedy?"

"Just curious of what there is of interest in some hick town in Nevada."

"Plenty of secrets to go around on this job. Mine is really of nothing major. Trust me, there are bigger fish to fry around here."

"I know that all too well, Fowler."

Fowler was getting tired of being probed.

"Something you wanna ask me, Agent Kennedy?"

Leon looked closely at Fowler, sizing him up mentally.

"Jackson Darby, ever heard of'em?"

Fowler let his poker face drop and gave himself away. He immediately went for his weapon, but Leon was much faster. Kicking the table that separated the two, Fowler felt it smash right into his shin bones. Feeling the pain, Fowler was then grabbed from across the table and pulled onto of it by the lapels of his suit. Face to face with Leon, Fowler attempted to draw his weapon again. Leon stopped him from taking aim by grabbing his wrist and twisting it, causing him to drop his weapon. Leon then threw him to the opposite side of where he dropped his gun, Fowler hitting the floor hard. As Leon pushed the table away to give him more room, Fowler managed to stand up. He raised his fists, ready to go one on one with the Agent. Of course, he knew he couldn't go against the younger, much better trained super agent. Of all the special agents for him to get into a fight with, why did it have to be Milla Jovovich's distant relative? Fowler threw the first punch, which was deflected and followed up with a kick to his knee. He fell on one knee, before he felt a hard boot knock his daylights right out. That was the last thing he remembered.

When he came to, he found himself in a dark room and handcuffed to a chair. Standing in front of him was Agent Kennedy. To his right was another agent he'd seen before, Helena Harper. He gulped when he saw her, having heard stories of the "excessive force" she often used during her days in the CIA as well as shooting her sister's boyfriend. How she ever got a job with the secret service, Fowler didn't know. The door suddenly opened and Fowler was met with the one person he'd hoped to not be involved with any of this. Adam Bedford, President of the United States. Fowler had often answered to the man himself regarding the Autobots. All this time, he was working with Umbrella?

"Hello, William." He said with the a hint of disappointment.

"I don't believe this." Fowler said as he shook his head.

"Neither do I, Bill. But here we are."

"Here we are, Mr. President."

"Bill, how long have we known each other."

"Since you first got into office three years ago...not long after the last guy stepped down."

The President sighed in regret.

"After the events of Raccoon City, could you blame him?"

"No...You know the truth, don't you?"

"I've known for a long time, Bill. That's one of the reasons I stepped up to fill the void when the election came around."

"So...all this time, you've been a part of this whole thing."

"The question is, Bill, how long have you been a part of it?"

Fowler narrowed his eyes, determined not to give up the BSAA or the Darbys.

"My eyes were opened a few days ago. I know everything."

"And this is the road you've chosen?"

"I suppose you think I made the wrong choice. You probably think I should've just stayed on your team."

"That's why I'm here Fowler. I'm hoping to get you to change your mind."

"Oh really? And what makes me so special?"

"For one thing, I still consider you a friend."

"Afraid that ship has sailed and sunk, Mr. President."

"It doesn't have to be that way, William. Not after all you've accomplished with _them_."

Now that the Autobots had come up, Fowler had to make sure that they were protected.

"Forget it, Pres. They already know the truth too."

This seemed to surprise the President.

"And they ain't happy with our dirty little secret. I already told'em that if I don't come back, they're to go underground. But they are ready to take the war to you _and_ your masters in Umbrella. If you want the kid, you gotta go through them first."

Fowler's bold statement seem to intrigue the President. It also left both Kennedy and Harper confused.

"Agent Harper?"

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"Remove Agent Fowler's restraints."

"Sir?" Leon questioned

"I think you might've been wrong about this one, Leon. I don't think Bill here is our enemy."

Fowler was now as confused as Agent Harper removed his cuffs, the President held a relieved smile on his face. Fowler stood up and rubbed his raw wrists. The President then handed him his weapon back.

"What is this?" Fowler asked as he took his weapon.

"Follow me, Bill."

The President left with Agent Harper close behind him. Leon remained until Fowler left the room first. As they walked down the hallway to what looked like a secluded hangar, Fowler was questioning everything around him. By what looked to be the President's private jet, two comfortable looking leather seats sat across from each other.

"Please." The President motioned to one of the seats.

Fowler took one seat and the President took the other. Both Agents stood behind Fowler which made him nervous.

"I'm sorry for all this, William. But when I thought you were with Umbrella, I took what I believed to be appropriate action."

"Wait...you thought that I..."

"You said that the Autobot's know about Umbrella."

Fowler waited before answering.

"Yes...they do."

"And they're willing to help us take them down? You're sure of this?"

"Us?"

"Bill, I'm not the bad guy here. In fact, I've been trying to take down Umbrella without getting myself assassinated ever since I came into office."

He stood up and went behind the seat, leaning over the back.

"I was still a senior official when they implemented 'CODE: XX'. I knew the real story behind the city's destruction. Just like you, I wasn't happy about it. I remember how much you demanded to know why they had to resort to such measures. When I won the election, I considered you for a spot in the Division of Security Operations. Of course, you had already been assigned to Jasper as a liaison to the Autobots years ago by that point."

"Division of Security Operations?"

"We're an anti-bioterrorism organization, founded by me and my good friend Leon here. We put it together after I became President, in response to the incident in Raccoon City. You see, I knew why we had to nuke the city. I had to make peace with that along with the former President while he was still in office. What I couldn't live with was how we continued to protect Umbrella after they had caused such a disaster. It was here that I learned of how we turned a blind eye to what they had been doing behind closed doors. Even after they've been exposed, they still have some of our people looking out for them, trying to think of ways for them to make their return. That's why this team exist, with us three and other elite soldiers fighting against the threat of Umbrella. We've managed to stop them resurfacing before, under new identities such as Will-Pharma and Tri-Cell. We're not unlike the BSAA, who I'm sure you've learned of by now. Though we try to distance ourselves from them, as Umbrella is aware of the threat they pose to their activity. This group acts as my sword against these terrorists. I want you to be a part of it."

Fowler was trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing.

"And if the Autobots are in it with us, then we just may have a chance to finally put an end to them."

President Bedford could sense that Fowler was apprehensive.

"I understand if you don't believe a word I'm saying. But maybe this might convince you. Tell me, what do you think of Agent Kennedy over here?"

Fowler looked behind him and saw the young Agent.

"I know he saved your daughter and that you trusts him greatly."

"Yes, but I've trusted him long before that. When I ran for President, Leon was the one person I wanted beside me. Do you know why that is?"

"No."

"Because like this kid, Jackson Darby _and_ his mother, Leon here lived through the horror that was Raccoon City."

Fowler looked shocked at the revelation.

"You leave here today and check his history. You'll see that when the outbreak occurred, Leon was a rookie with the Raccoon City Police Department. It was during his escape that he and his partner, Claire Redfield, were able to figure out how the outbreak happened. He knows firsthand what Umbrella is capable of and that's why I trust him in the fight against them."

Fowler was still a bit skeptical about this whole thing, but the mention of another Redfield stood out to him. The BSAA Agent Chris had mentioned having a sister who also survived the incident. If Leon was the other person who had escaped with her, it was unlikely that he would willingly go along with anything Umbrella was involved with.

"Before I agree to anything." Fowler started. "I wanna know why Agent Kennedy was asking about Jackson Darby."

"Leon, if you please?"

Leon walked up next to the President.

"I received intel that Umbrella was offering a large sum of money for anyone who could assist them in finding Jackson Darby. I had my operative look into the name and found out about the kid and how he survived the city with his mom. When I learned that he was living in Jasper, I came to you, remembering that you operated out there. I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm sorry for that."

"So they _are_ still after him...why? Why him and not his mother."

"We don't know, Bill." The President answered.

"And we don't care." Leon added. "All we know is that if Umbrella is looking for him, then we have every reason to keep them away from the kid."

Fowler took a deep breath.

"Say I agree to this, what happens to them?"

"Normally, we'd take them into our custody and put them under our protection, like we did with the daughter of one of Umbrella's chief scientists." The President spoke. "But I know that you would not be comfortable with that arrangement, so I'm willing to leave them in the care of the Autobots. Also, I give you a name."

"A name, sir?"

"Yes, a name of someone high up in our political structure who has made it difficult for us to remove without exposing us all. Someone who has played a great part in protecting Umbrella."

"Who, Mr. President?"

"I must warn you, William. He's a very powerful man, one you know of quite well. Knowing his association with Umbrella will irreparably jade you to the political structure of our nation."

Fowler almost didn't want to know, but he couldn't live in a sanctuary of ignorance any longer.

"Just give it to me straight, Mr. President."

There was a reluctance in the President, but he went ahead anyway.

"Derek C. Simmons."

Fowler felt his heart stop for a second. Derek Simmons was the head of a very old, very wealthy, and _very_ influential family. It was his family that played a huge part in pulling the country out of the recession. They were a true power among the elites of the world. For them to be involved with Umbrella was a startling revelation. President Bedford continued.

"His family has worked alongside Umbrella for decades, all the way back to it's founders. Only one of them still lives today, Oswell E. Spencer. Umbrella rose with him and it will fall with him. The only who knows where to this find this man is Simmons. You get Simmons, we get Spencer, and Umbrella falls like the Wall of Jericho...And the world will be a better place without them."

The President held his hand out to Fowler.

"Can I still count on you, William? Can we work together to bring them down?"

There was still some doubt in his mind, not about the President, but about going up against Derek Simmons. Still, this was what he was looking for and now he had it. Fowler took the President's hand, gripping it firmly to show his dedication.

"Down with Umbrella, Sir." He said firmly.

"All the way down, William."

With that, the Autobot had a new ally in the D.S.O. Umbrella was in for a real fight and they didn't even know it.

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As Arcee was walking down the corridors of the base, she was stopped by the sounds of gunfire. She cautiously followed the noise and found the storage room where it was coming from. She expected to see one of the BSAA agents in the middle of target practice. Instead, she saw her charge firing a handgun into a set of wood panels. She entered the the room without alerting him and watched as he fired round after round into the panels which had targets painted on them. She cringed as his aim was shown to be less than effective. She had already learned by now about Jack and June taking shooting lessons together. She figured that his missing eye was affecting his skill.

"Jack?"

Jack tensed up and looked behind to see Arcee staring down worryingly.

"Oh...Hey Arcee."

"Hey."

The two hadn't really talked since he woke up. Arcee found it difficult to be around him in the state that he was in.

"What are you doing?"

Jack looked at the pistol he was holding before releasing a sigh.

"Practicing my shooting."

"Oh."

She looked at the targets and saw just how off his marksmanship was.

"Uh...not bad?"

"I'm a lousy shot."

Jack frustratingly took his patch off before removing his bandage to change it. Arcee looked away the moment she saw the color red.

"I use to be halfway decent. I could hit a still target at 15 yards pretty accurately. Now I can't even tell how I'm suppose to aim."

He hissed and grimaced as he changed his bandage, taking a few painkillers after he was finished. Not wanting to fire a gun after taking his medication, he started packing it away.

"I can't shoot with my left hand and shooting with my right while aiming with my left eye is so confusing."

Jack put the weapon away and put his patch back on.

"Where'd you get the gun anyway?" Arcee asked.

Jack stopped moving, almost nervous about telling Arcee.

"I asked Jill for one. I told her I wanted to be prepared...just in case. She was the one that convinced Mom to learn to shoot."

Arcee understood why Jack felt the need to be prepared. She had long understood why he and June use to carry guns with them after she learned about Raccoon City.

"I understand, Jack. After what happened...I get it."

"I doesn't matter anyway. I can't shoot worth a slag with only one eye."

Jack left the room with Arcee close behind him.

"Jack..."

Jack didn't intentionally ignore her, but he didn't reply to her as he made his way back to his room.

"Jack, wait up."

Jack sat on his bed with his back to the door.

"Jack."

"I'm going to bed, Arcee."

"Hold on. Just listen for a nano-click, okay?"

Jack didn't say anything. Arcee watched her partner's back. He glanced back for a second and she saw his face. He still looked like he wasn't sleeping as much and it was obvious that he was still scared.

"Jack, it's good that you want to be prepared for the worst."

She got closer behind him, gently placing her servo on his back. She could feel the tensity ease a little with her touch.

"But you know we're here for you, right? I mean, we're not gonna let you out of our sight. And I know that sounds a little demeaning...but we will protect you. You don't have to worry about being able to shoot straight."

She ran her servo down his back once. When she moved it back up to do it again, he took one of her digits in his own hand.

"I know, Arcee. And believe me, I'm glad you guys are here."

Arcee smiled but she knew something was still bothering him.

"Is it the nightmares?"

Jack sighed and lowered his posture, letting his hand fall to his lap.

"You know about those, huh?"

"I've been watching over you every night since we got you back. I know when you're not sleeping."

Jack was quiet for a moment.

"You guys are keeping an eye of Miko and Raf, right?"

Of course he was more worried about them. At least that hadn't changed.

"Yes Jack, we are. Between us and the BSAA, they're protected."

"Were they..."

Arcee felt him tense up again.

"How bad was it...when they saw me like this?"

"It was bad for all us, even Optimus?"

Jack gripped his knees.

"Raf was really upset when I woke up...I never wanna see him like that again."

His voice was beginning to quiver.

"You won't, partner."

"I heard you guys talking...about Wesker and my blood."

"Let us worry about that, Jack. You just focus on getting better."

"But I have an idea...on how to get to Wesker."

Arcee removed her servo and looked at Jack thoughtfully.

"What do you have in mind, Jack?"

"You're not gonna like it?"

"What makes you say that, partner?"

Jack stood up and faced Arcee with a determined look. She very quickly realized what he was getting at and just as quickly voiced her disapproval.

"No! No Way! Not Gonna Happen!"

"Arcee, it could be our only chance."

"You know what he wants from you, right Jack?"

Jack's face went dark.

"Of course I do, Arcee. He told me what he wanted in so many words."

"And you wanna just hand yourself over to him?"

Jack tried to think of a rational way to put it for Arcee.

"You guys'll protect me, right? That's what you said."

"By keeping you out of his reach, Jack. Not dangling you in front of him like a piece of meat."

"Arcee, hear me out."

"Forget it, Jack. Do you know what'll happen if he get's his hands on you again?"

"I know, Arcee. What he would do to me keeps me up at night."

"It's not just what he would do to you, it's what he would do after that."

Jack didn't understand what Arcee was saying.

"Jack, there is something in your blood that can change either the virus or the vaccine you were given. We don't know what it is or what your blood is capable of. But Jill and Chris have an idea of what Wesker might try to do...And if it works, you could become something worse than what you've seen in Raccoon City. Do you understand that?"

Arcee's expression became much more vulnerable.

"He could turn you into some kind of weapon...and if that happens..."

Arcee looked away, afraid to look Jack in his remaining eye.

"Arcee..."

"Jack...I thought I was gonna lose you."

She looked back at him with such fear in her optics. She knelt down and put her servo on his shoulder.

"I can't go through that again, thinking that might've been the last time I saw you. The way we left things in your garage..."

Jack took Arcee's servo.

"Arcee, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you right there."

"Stop, Jack. We're not talking about that. I _can't_ lose you...to them, to Airachnid, to M.E.C.H. I couldn't do it. If you became one of those things...I wouldn't be able to...you know...put you down.

She looked down for a second to gather herself.

"Jack, don't you realize how important you are to me?"

Jack was gripping her servo tighter.

"I will find Wesker and stop Umbrella. I will protect you, Jack. And I won't let them near you again, even if it _could_ make it easier to take them down. It's not worth the risk. Your life isn't worth their downfall."

She placed her finger beneath his chin.

"You and your mom had to shoulder this for six years. For once, let someone else shoulder it for you."

Her optics were pleading with him to reconsider his plan.

"Please, Jack."

Jack pulled away from her servo.

"I'm sorry Arcee...for getting you all worked up like this."

Jack kept his head down feeling a bit ashamed for not taking Arcee's feelings into account. Arcee, who had calmed down now, looked at her defeated charge with pity.

"You need to get out, Jack."

Jack looked up with confusion.

"What?"

"You've been cooped up in this silo for too long. You need some fresh air."

"Okay...but how are we suppose to do that? We can't just go for a ride like we used to."

Arcee thought for a moment.

"Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To talk to to Optimus."

The two headed to Optimus' quarters. For what reason, Jack didn't know. When they reached their destination, Jack waited outside while Arcee talked with him in private. After a few minutes had passed, she came out of the room with a pleased smile on her face. Jack was curious as to what she was planning. As he followed behind her, he glanced over his shoulder and saw a concerned Optimus watching him leave. The Prime had also distanced himself from Jack since he was rescued from Umbrella and he could see a hint of shame and guilt in his optics the few times they had seen each other. Jack wondered what happened to him while he was still asleep. The two entered the main hall where no one was residing. Miko and Raf had gone home with Bulkhead and Bumblebee on curbside duty.

"Good, Ratchet's down for recharge. He probably wouldn't be okay with this."

"Arcee, what are we doing?"

"You need to get out for a while, Jack. Clear your head. And I know just where take you."

"What about Umbrella?"

Arcee's shoulders slumped as she input the coordinates.

"Okay, hear me out on this. This _was_ a location for one of Umbrella's sites."

"What?!"

" _But_ I talked it over with Optimus. Chris told him that when an Umbrella site gets infiltrated, they shut it down and disappear."

Jack eased up a bit.

"He said that they leave nothing behind, no evidence of them being there. Right now, this is probably to most Umbrella free country for us to go."

"Are you sure about this, Arcee?"

"Don't worry, Jack. If by some chance they left a straggler behind, I won't let them get you. Optimus is gonna be on the comm link, ready to bridge us back. You'll be fine."

"I don't know about this,'Cee. I mean, why here?"

"Well...I really liked it when I saw it for the first time. I didn't have a chance to take a good look around and explore, but I said that I would the next time I had the chance. And I really want you to see it with me."

Jack felt that familiar bond he had always felt with Arcee.

"Really?"

"Really."

Arcee pulled the lever and activated the bridge. She transformed in front of Jack and waited for him to climb on. Doing so brought him back to the peaceful state of mind he was in before everything had fallen apart. Arcee was right, he needed this. He needed to forget about Umbrella for a while.

"Hang on, Partner."

Arcee rode through with Jack. When they came out through the other side, they found themselves in a narrow alley. Jack tried to take a guess of where they could be, but couldn't place a finger in it. As they pulled into the street, he got a good view of the city. His heart burst with excitement when he realized where he was.

"Japan?"

"Tokyo, Japan. And believe me, it's everything Miko said it was."

Jack was completely entranced by the city, from the left side drivers to the colorful billboards.

"I'd always wanted to see Japan some day."

"What do ya say, Jack? Should I call for a bridge home?"

"Hmm."

"Or do you wanna see what this city has to offer?"

Jack gripped Arcee's bars firmly, excitement plastered all over his face.

"Let's do it, 'Cee."

" _There's_ my partner."

With that, the two rode through traffic as they began their journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.

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 **I'm sorry I got this one up so late. This time I have no excuse other than I was hit with a bad case of writer's block. I wrote and rewrote certain parts of this chapter over and over again and I just was not satisfied with what I was reading. Finally, I managed something I'm pleased with. So here you are.**

 **Okay, alot more exposition in this chapter and I need to clear up some things from the RE cannon. I've looked it up and I have no idea if the President in Resident Evil 6 is Ashley Graham's father. Yes, they have different last names. But I thought maybe she took her mother's name for some reason. Adam Bedford was described as a close friend to Leon and I figured that saving his daughter would have that effect. So if that isn't the case, consider it artistic license.**

 **In other news, Leon and Helena join the cast along with Josh Stone from RE5. Again, I'm only following cannon up to the fourth game. Any character that appears after that came into the picture under different circumstances.**

 **Fowler comes back in this chapter and he's secured a new ally for the Autobots. We also get two Resident Evil antagonist with Derek C. Simmons and Oswald E. Spencer. Spencer is gonna remain more a less the same as he was in Lost Nightmares. (If he appeared in a game before that, I haven't played it.) But I'm making some changes to Simmon's character. He's still gonna be a powerful figure with alot of pull within the government. But that whole Illuminati like thing with "The Family" they went with in the sixth game, I'm gonna dial that back. I kept the fight between Fowler and Leon short because, really, how long could Fowler last against Leon Kennedy. Also, that Milla Jovovich joke was meant to be Jason Statham, but I decided to turn it into a reference to the movies.**

 **So Jack isn't really dealing with things too well right now. Even though his plan can work, I wanted to come off as more desperate than anything else. Jack tends to put everyone else above himself, as Optimus would, which is why he would think to put himself at risk for the sake of his mother, Miko, and Raf. But he's also thinking out of fear for their saftey, which I hope came across with his dialogue. Either way, Arcee is right to worry about him. Got that little bit of feels of out of the way. Now, I understand that there is an understandable amount of "what the hell are you thinking?" with Arcee taking Jack to Tokyo. I hope her rationalization seems justified to you all and not just her holding onto the "Idiot Ball". BTW, how many tropers in the house tonight? So I'm gonna try and stay on top of these better than I have been and get the next chapter up earlier than a week and a half. And we are gonna start getting back into the action next chapter.**

 **And yes, that was an Iron Man 2 reference last chapter. You will see alot of references in the future, like the Chris Nolan one in this chapter. Love'em or hate'em (I love'em...most of the time) the man has a sense of style when it comes to wardrobe. JGL in Inception was lookin' damn good in that waistcoat. Mm Mm Mm...Stop looking at me like that.**


	17. Chapter 17

**The following chapter may confuse you. I encourage you read the authors note at the end of the chapter for further explanation.**

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It was understandable that Jack never really reminisced about Raccoon City. Any fond memories he had of the metropolis was tainted by memories of the undead. As boring as Jasper was, he became accustomed to the middle of nowhere desert town quite easily when he and his family had first moved there. He never found himself longing for the big city despite being from one. Having said that, Tokyo was a sight to behold. It was nothing like what he remembered Raccoon City to be, even less like Jasper. As Arcee rode through traffic, he took in his surroundings and fell in love with the city. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, it was still an experience. From the moment he rode the the ground bridge, he had not thought about Umbrella once.

Arcee on the other hand, was a tad bit disappointed. True, Tokyo was still livelier than anything she would see in boring old Jasper, but it was a far cry from the brightly lit wonderland she saw with Jill. Also, she had yet to see another biker on the road, aside from a few young people riding those motor scooters around the city. Arcee never liked those things, considering them an insult to two-wheelers like her. But Jack was having a good time and that was all that mattered. She looked at him through her mirrors and was glad to see that he was enjoying himself. As long as he was safe and not afraid, that was all she cared about. However, she decided that they were gonna stay in in Tokyo well into the night. Jack needed to see the city as she did, then they could have some real fun.

The two continued to ride around with no particular destination in mind. As they did, Jack took notice to alot of kids his age dressed in yellow attire. Well, they wore clothes of various colors, but they all seem to have a yellow article of clothing on them. He didn't think too much about it because he managed to catch the sight of something much more interesting.

"Whoa." Arcee heard Jack say. "Hold on a sec, Arcee."

Arcee pulled over and allowed Jack to observe something farther away.

"What's up, partner?"

Arcee saw what he was looking at. Standing taller than all the other structures was what looked to be a human communications tower. Arcee took note that it was the same colors as Ratchet for some reason.

"What's that?"

"That's the Tokyo Tower, one of the landmarks of this city."

"Is it suppose to be something special?"

"Well, yeah. It's one of the things you have to see when you come to Tokyo. It's second tallest structure in Japan, next to the Skytree."

"No offense Jack, but we had towers on Cybertron that would put that one to shame."

"It's a culture thing, Arcee."

"I don't think I get it."

"Miko can probably explain it better than I can...I'm really glad I got to see it, though."

Arcee looked at her partner and the peaceful expression on his face. She decided to not critique the tower any further and just let him enjoy the view. It may not have seemed like much to her, but at least he was happy to see it.

The two finally left to explore the city some more. They ended up in someplace called the Toshima Ward. This area seemed to set itself apart from the rest of Tokyo as it had a little bit more going on.

"Look at that." Arcee said with genuine intrigue

Jack took notice to the amount of cherry blossom trees that grew in this area. Although he wondered how Arcee was more impressed by these than the tower, he still found himself entranced by the pink flowers that the country was known for.

"Never seen anything like that in Jasper." She said.

"Those are called cherry blossoms. They're native to this part of the world."

"They're beautiful."

"Yeah, they are. Still can't believe Miko traded this for Jasper. How on Earth could she find it boring here?"

"Miko finds anything that's not trying to blow her up boring."

"Yeah, she's one serious adrenaline junky."

"That's putting it lightly."

The two came to a stop when they suddenly heard a loud crash coming from down the street. Jack looked to where it came from and Arcee readied herself to get Jack to safety. Was it the Decepticons, Umbrella, M.E.C.H.? None of the above. Jack saw a young adult male hopping along the hood of several vehicles. He wore a devious expression on his face as he giddily bounced on a parked car. He had hair as dark as Jacks and wore a fur trimmed coat that went down to his hips, which was weird because it was not cold at all.

"IIIIIIZAAAAAYYYYAAAAAA!" A voiced filled with pure rage came from around the corner.

Several onlookers had turned tail and ran for the hills. Arcee wanted to make sure that whatever they were running from was not any of the threats she feared. A tall man with unnatural looking blonde hair wearing a bartender suit and purple sunglasses ran from around the corner. His eyes screamed bloody murder and were dead set on the other man still dancing atop of the car.

"Aw come one, Shizuo. It's not the end of the world." He mockingly said to the blonde man.

"You bastard." The blonde man replied with such visceral hatred. "I finally got myself a decent job, a job I was good at. And you...you..."

This Shizuo person was so angry that he could not finish his sentence. The other person, Izaya, responded by laughing right in his face.

"Oh come now, Shizuo. I did you a favor. Surely the strongest man in Ikebukuro was meant for so much more than to be some glorified doorman at a gentleman's club. And look at it this way, at least you still get to be your old pal Tanaka's bodyguard."

"You son of a bitch! You told them that I was a thief and a pervert, that I was arrested for groping some old lady on the train! You made me look like a fool!"

"No, I made you look like an even _bigger_ fool. Your penchant for needless violence cast that dye way back in High School."

Shizuo's teeth clenched so tight that the toothpick he held in his mouth snapped right in half. To Arcee and Jack's utter disbelief, the raging blonde picked up a vending machine and held it over his head with seemingly no effort at all.

"I'LL SHOW _YOU_ NEEDLESS VIOLENCE!"

Shizuo chucked the machine right at Izaya, who casually moved out of it's way.

"And your aim is poor as well."

"I'll Kill You!"

Shizuo then grabbed onto a nearby light pole and pulled it right out of the ground. The femme and her partner were almost speechless.

"Arcee?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"This is really happening, right? I'm not going crazy, am I?"

"If you are, you're not half as crazy as that guy."

Just like the vending machine, Shizuo held the pole with no effort. He lifted it over his shoulder and lunged it at Izaya, who dodged it as he did the with the last object that was thrown as him. He was laughing mad as the pole went right into a windshield. Just as Shizuo began to pick up a store front bench, Arcee spun herself in the other direction.

"Time to go, partner!"

"Good idea!"

The two peeled off with great speed, catching the attention of Izaya.

"Look at that, Shizuo. You've scared away the tourist."

"DIE!"

The bench flew at Izaya, but he jumped over and started laughing like a lunatic again. This continued on as Arcee put as much distance between them and Jack as possible.

''Jack?"

"Yeah, Arcee?"

"Let's not tell Optimus about this."

"Agreed."

"Your mom, neither."

"I'm sorry, but do I look insane to you?"

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The two rode for a while. They explored the more suburban part of Tokyo, which was still livelier than Jasper.

"I could see myself living here." Jack said of the quieter area.

"Seems like a nice place."

Arcee saw more kids riding bicycles like the one that Jack use to ride back at home. These didn't disgust her as much as those scooters did, for some reason. They rode for a little while longer until they ended up in a more rural area that Jack wasn't sure was still Tokyo. They came across a grassy field that was devoid of any people. Jack got off of Arcee and allowed her to stretch her legs a bit.

"That is so much better." She said once she transformed.

The pair sat next to each other, allowing themselves to unwind for a bit.

"So, what was that earlier? That blonde guy was chucking vending machines and light poles like they were dodge balls. I never thought anyone could do something like that."

Arcee didn't answer.

"I've never seen someone get that mad before. Not even my Mom ever got that angry. It was like his freakish strength came from rage alone."

Jack then noticed how quiet Arcee was. When he looked up at her, he saw that she wasn't paying much attention to him. Her optics were fixed on the open field before her.

"Arcee?"

"Huh...You say something, Jack?"

Jack smiled in amusement.

"Nothing, partner."

"Okay." She said as she turned back to what was in front of her.

He had never seen her like this, so calm.

"I never took you for a nature lover."

Arcee chuckled slightly.

"I always had a thing this planet's natural wonders."

"Really? I never got that vibe from you back home."

"That's because it's all sand and rocks over there. Why Optimus chose to hideout in the desert, I'll never know."

"So the Tokyo Tower is just 'meh' to you, but an open field out here in the country is more impressive. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful to look at. But I always had you pegged for a city femme."

"It's all cities on Cybertron, Jack. Or at least, it was. I've seen plenty of towers and other structures before, but I've never seen anything like this. Organic stuff like this doesn't exist on my home planet."

"I always thought that was one of the things you liked about Cybertron. You never seemed to think much Earth."

"I never thought much of Earth's people, at least until I met you."

Arcee leaned back and looked to the sky as she reminisced about some of her better days on Earth.

"I remember the first time I saw snow and learned what Winter was, the first time saw rain fall from the sky, the first time I saw a forest or a jungle."

This was a side of Arcee he had never seen.

"The first few orbital cycles I lived here, I hated it. 'Con activity was at a low and there was nothing going on. I explored Nevada a little, but pretty much saw more of the same. I figured that the rest of this dirt ball was no different. Then one day, I saw an image of a planet on Ratchet's monitor. When I asked him what it was, he told me that it was Earth. Me and Cliffjumper came to this planet through a space bridge and we had never seen what the planet looked like from far away. I honest to Primus thought Ratchet was mistaken because there was no way that the little blue planet on the screen was the same as the dusty wasteland we were living in. Cliffjumper didn't believe it either, so Bulkhead and Bumblebee decided to show us themselves. We bridged to this area in England. It took me having to see more humans to convince me that it wasn't another planet. I never saw so much green in my life. It went on for miles over these hills that looked like they were moving with the wind. The way the grass and the trees swayed in the breeze, it was a hundred times better than the desert. Me and Cliff were mesmerized. I wish I could describe his face when he saw sheep for the first time. Me and Bumblebee had to stop him because he wanted to take one back to base."

"I'm sure Ratchet would've loved that." Jacked said sarcastically.

"I admit, I was tempted to let'em just to see the Ratchet throw a fit...For me, it was the horses."

Jack found himself moving closer to Arcee.

"I had yet to see much of this planet's wildlife, a few domesticated dogs and cats, birds, the occasional scorpion which I thought was disgusting. But I'll never forget the first time I saw a group of horses running through the fields. I don't know if they had gotten out of their farm or whatever, but the way they moved so quickly without a care in the world. I still can't describe what I felt."

Jack couldn't pull his eyes away Arcee. It was hard imagine her being the way she described.

"We explored the countryside for a bit, saw a few villages. I don't know why, but the simplicity of those towns gave them a bit of charm that we didn't get in Jasper. We saw the ruins of old castles which were pretty interesting. It made me wonder about this world's history. We made it to the coast and I saw the ocean for the first time. That humbled me to this planet greatly."

"What do mean?"

"We've never seen anything like that before, a body of water of that size. When I realized that the Earth was blue because of the sea, I felt so little compared to it all."

"You?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Hard to believe, right? It stretched as far my optics could see and I wondered what was under there. I did some research and learned about the aquatic life that dwelled down there and it was just as amazing. It's a shame we couldn't explore it the way we did the surface. Guess we have to leave that to you humans."

"Well, there's still alot we don't know about the ocean. It's kind of a scary thing to think about."

"The unknown is always scary, Jack...But that wasn't the most memorable thing we saw that day."

"What was it?"

Arcee's smile was telling enough that whatever she saw was beyond incredible.

"It had already gotten dark and we were getting ready to head back to base. Suddenly, we all saw something glowing in the sky. We armed our blasters, thinking it was a 'Con looking for a fight. But it wasn't even close to that. The sky was just swimming in all these colors. Green, yellow, blue and they moved around in a way that they looked like they were alive. We disarmed our weapon because somehow we knew that it wasn't a threat. It was...calming...euphoric even."

Jack stared at Arcee who was lost in her own memory.

"Aurora Borealis." He said.

Arcee was pulled out of her memory.

"What?"

"The Northern Lights, that the name of what you saw. It's like some sort of light display caused by electrons in the atmosphere...or something like that. Raf would know what it is. But yeah, it is beautiful...At least, from the pictures I've seen."

Arcee looked down at her charge.

"You've never seen it?"

"Well, no. Things like that don't really happen in our part of world. If it does, it's a rare thing. I'm not even sure how you saw it in England. I thought the only place to see it in the U.K. was Scotland."

"Jack, you _have_ to see it. Pictures cannot do it justice."

"Maybe I will...someday."

"You will because I'm gonna make sure you do."

"One trip at a time, Arcee." Jack said amusingly.

Suddenly, he felt Arcee's servo pull him closer to her. He looked up and saw that she was once again staring off into the landscape, her expression ever so content. She absentmindedly began stroking Jack's back with her thumb, which made him blush slightly. Still, he was happy to be here with her. The way she talked about her memories with Cliffjumper and the others with such a smile on her face, moments not of battle or survival, but of peace. Now, the two of them were sharing their own peaceful moment that would soon become a memory that they could look back on. Jack hoped that when he expired from this world long before she did, this would be one of the moments she would remember fondly.

They sat comfortably in silence for a little while. Jack suddenly felt himself getting tired as the afternoon went by. By now, it was early into the new day back in Jasper and Jack was usually asleep. The time difference was going to wreak havoc on him later. He tried to stay awake as best he could, but he ended up drifting off in Arcee's embrace. The femme looked down and smiled at the sight of Jack resting his head against her frame. She knew that he would normally be in bed by now, so he must've been tired. She decided to let him sleep for a while.

"Rest easy, partner. I've got you."

She continued to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside as her partner slept beside her. When he woke up, they were going to head back to the city and enjoy the night life. But for now, this was perfect. If only things could always be like this.

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Arcee and Jack had made their way back to Tokyo. Now that the sun had gone down, it was a completely different city. With all the lights, the fast movement, and just the different kinds of people that came out after dark, it looked like something out of fiction instead of an actual place.

"Oh man." Jack said with a shortness of breath.

"Right?" Arcee happily replied.

"This is unreal."

"Well, we ain't gonna have any fun by just sitting here. Let's go exploring."

"Ready when you are,'Cee."

The two rode into the heart of the moving mural that was Tokyo. Arcee was swerving through traffic, moving fast enough to get her partner's blood pumping, but not so fast that he couldn't see everything as they rode through. Even Raccoon City never had this many people moving around at once. He saw many young people walking around, having fun, getting into trouble. He managed to catch a glimpse of the Tokyo Tower again, this time illuminated with bright, orange lights. Even Arcee had to admit that it looked much more impressive at night. She took notice to the many custom cars she saw around certain areas. Clearly, they were customized for street racing. Unfortunately, their owners weren't racing at the moment, choosing to show their cars off to the crowd. Arcee hadn't really seen many motorcycles either, much to her disappointment. But she was still having a blast. And the best part was that Jack was with her. It was a real shame that the first time she had seen this city was during a moment of crisis. It would've been something else for the both of them to witness Tokyo for the first time together. Nonetheless, they sped through the busy streets like nobody's business without a care.

Eventually, they ended up back in the Toshima Ward in the district called Ikebukuro. Arcee was parked across the street from a brightly lit fountain where a group of people were socializing. It seemed that everything in this city had lights on them.

"Whoa. Sweet bike, man."

Jack turned to see a man with shoulder length brown hair, wearing a vest over a collared shirt observing Arcee. Jack was surprised he spoke to him in English.

"This baby looks like it could outrun a few of the street racers."

"Uh...Thanks."

Jack never knew how to take a compliment about Arcee. It felt wrong to accept it because he felt it implied ownership of her. He also didn't like talking about things like her top speed or what engine she ran on. As Arcee once told him, a lady's vital stats are her own business.

"Colors are kinda girly but..." He started saying as he looked to Jack, stopping once he noticed his eye patch.

He was clearly not expecting to see someone with such a handicap. He was staring at Jack without realizing it, making him feel a bit self-conscious about it. When the stranger finally snapped out of it, he awkwardly looked away which didn't help in the slightest. Arcee was so tempted to run his foot over. Another young male walked up behind and slapped the back of his head.

"Quit staring like an idiot, idiot. You act like you've never seen a kid with an eye patch before." He said.

"Ow! Sorry."

The other man shot him a glare before looking to Jack. He was taller than his friend and wore a green jacket that was zipped all the way up as well a black beanie that almost obscured the top of his eyes.

"Sorry about Togusa, here. He's kind of a germaphobe."

"Germaphobe?"

"Looks like you got that eye infection that's been goin' around. I got it a few days ago and had to wear a patch just like that. Thing must itch like hell, doesn't it?"

Jack wasn't sure what this person was talking about but decided to go along with it anyway if it kept either of them from asking about his eye.

"Uh...Yeah, it really sucks."

"Ah, it'll pass. Just don't scratch it or it'll get worse and spread to the other one."

Arcee knew what this kid was doing and she was thankful for it. He must've been able to tell that Jack was uncomfortable with his idiot friend staring at his eye and made up a story to excuse his actions. Hopefully, Jack believed him.

"Thanks...Uh..."

"Kyohei Kadota, nice to meet you."

He held out his hand for Jack to take, which he did.

"Jackson Darby."

"American?"

"Yeah...Jasper, Nevada."

"Dota-chin!" A female voice called out.

Kyohei grimaced at the name he was referred to. Jack figured that it wasn't a nickname he chose for himself. He saw a pair of younger locals coming from a parked van. One was a young man wearing a blue hoodie. He had light brown hair and had a very wide smile and eyes that never seemed to open. His companion, a young girl wearing a newsboy cap and a long-sleeve black dress, ran side by side with him. The two seemed to have alot of energy and were clearly excited about something.

"What is it now, Erika?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see who you were talking to." The boy answered instead of the girl.

"Whooaa." Erika said as she stared at Jack as if he was the most interesting person in the world.

Jack was feeling very uncomfortable now.

"Walker, would you get her to stop that?" Kyohei ordered.

"You..." She said to Jack. "You look like a hero from a shonen manga!"

Jack wasn't sure what she meant by that, but was taken back with her enthusiasm.

"I'd say he's more of an anti-hero." Walker replied.

"Enough, you two." Kyohei ordered again.

"Yeah, he's not use to your weirdness." Togusa added.

"Tell me, how'd you lose your eye?!" She asked excitedly.

Togusa grimaced and Kyohei face palmed.

"Uuhhh, Erika? It's just the infection, remember?" Togusa tried to subtlety hint for her to get with the program. She didn't catch on.

"What infection? The flu from last year?"

Kyohei groaned in annoyance. His earlier save had been laid to waste by Erika. Arcee was seriously considering running her over. It would not surprise her in the least if she had been friends with Miko.

"You're from America, right? You're probably a street racer who was run off the road by a guy you beat in a drag race and lost your eye in the crash. Now, you're out for revenge and tracked him here in Ikebukuro!"

Was this girl serious?

"Nah." Walker jumped in. "More like he was a gang member who was betrayed by his former crew and lost his eye in a shoot-out. Now he lives in Ikebukuro to try and get away from his old life. But little does he know, the gang's gone worldwide and his best friend who betrayed him is out to finish him off."

"That would be such an awesome manga, Walker."

"I know, right."

"And maybe the real reason his friend betrayed him was because they were in love with each other, but he wanted to leave the gang and his lover behind."

"Really, Erika?!" Kyohei shouted.

"You always have to take the yaoi route, don't you?" Walker asked.

"Let's go, you two." Togusa said as he dragged the two excited teens back to his van.

"Sorry about that." Kyohei started. "Those two have trouble separating life from those mangas they read."

Kyohei's kindness helped Jack ignore his earlier self-consciousness. He was thankful to this guy for trying to make him feel welcome.

"Thank you, Kyohei."

Kyohei responded by rubbing the top of his beanie.

"You're probably the only one in this city who'll call me by my real name."

The two exchanged a laugh while Arcee smiled inwardly. Just a few days ago, Jack was hiding himself away from his mother and his friends purely out of fear. Now he was making friends in a foreign country. Things were looking good for her partner. Maybe Umbrella hadn't broken him.

All three of them were caught off guard by a strange sound the resonated through the streets. To Jack and Arcee, it sounded like the neigh of a horse fused with the roar of an engine along with something else entirely. Suddenly, a woman on a black bike sped past them and down the road. Arcee felt her energon pumping the moment she saw her.

"Her again?" Kyohei said to himself.

Arcee began revving her engine, signalling Jack that she was ready to to go.

"Uh, it was nice meeting you, Kyohei."

"Likewise, Jack."

"I guess I see you aroo _uunnndddd!_ " Arcee pulled off after the mysterious biker before Jack could finish his goodbye. Kyohei stood at the edge of the sidewalk, watching the two in confusion.

"Arcee, what's up with you?"

"Sorry, Jack. But I've been waiting for this all day."

"What, the biker?"

"First one we've seen since we got here."

"Okay, and?"

"We're gonna race her."

"What?!"

"You heard me."

"And what about the rules?"

"What Optimus doesn't know won't hurt him."

"But what my Mom finds out will kill us both."

"Relax, Jack. First rule of robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club."

"What does that have to do anything?!"

"Never mind, Jack. There she is."

They pulled up alongside the rider at a stop light, Arcee revving her engine while Jack dared not to make eye contact. The rider seemed to pay them no mind as they waited for the light to change. But the more they watched the mysterious woman, the more strange she appeared. For one thing, her bike had no headlights of any kind. How she was able to ride through the night without one, neither of them knew. But what also struck them as odd was the bike and the rider itself. Both it and she were near invisible to the night, the rider clad in a black bodysuit while the bike itself was a shadowy black that gave off no kind of glare. The only thing that stood apart from either was the strange helmet she wore, which was bright yellow with a blue back and a matching colored design on the side. It also had cat like ears at the top for some reason. It kind of reminded Jack of Sadie, Arcee's holographic rider. But the helmet seemed so out of place, not just because of it's color or design, but because it seemed wrong for her to even have one. Arcee was even more confused by the rider. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like the rider was not quite what she seemed. Also, he bike wasn't making any noises that a motorcycle should be making. It wasn't even vibrating, as if it didn't have an engine at all.

The light changed and the Black Rider was off, popping a wheelie as she rode away. Arcee was not about to be outclassed and sped after her. Only Jack seemed to notice the strange neighing sound again. The Black Rider was fast, faster than any other biker Arcee had come across. But the Cybertronian was able to bridge the gap in no time at all. The Black Rider looked to her side to observe Jack and his motorcycle.

'What does this kid want with me?' She thought.

She pulled away again, hoping to leave Jack in the dust.

"Oh, no you don't." Arcee said as she caught up with her.

As they raced down the streets, they started coming up on other vehicles. The Black Rider effortlessly maneuvered around them and expected Jack to be unable to follow. To her surprise, Arcee was able to follow suit just as easy.

'Somethings not right about that kid.'

Arcee kept up with her and was determined to smoke her. The Black Rider was getting annoyed now. She veered off into a nearby alley, hoping Jack wouldn't follow.

"Not gonna work, lady." Arcee arrogantly said

By now, the Black Rider was beginning to suspect something was off. Despite Jack's apparent desire to want to stick to her like glue, he had yet to even look at her the way others would when they challenged her. The two were coming up on a tunnel and the Black Rider took drastic action. She swerved into the oncoming lane and began going against traffic. She made sure to stay in between the lanes in an effort to not cause oncoming cars to try and swerve out of the way, which would cause an accident. She was certain that Jack was not going to follow her. But to her shock, there he was, doing the same thing. Arcee was right behind her and she wasn't letting up. She was going to leave this mystery woman in dust. They all came out the other end of the tunnel. Arcee was ready to go into overdrive and fly past the Black Rider while the Rider was ready to pull a major stunt to get away from them. Before either of them could do any of that, the sounds sirens of caught their attention. Jack turned around and saw four motorcycle cops hot on their trails. Leading the pack was a man wearing a red scarf over his uniform.

"Arcee, what did you do?"

"Uh...Don't panic, Jack. I can get us out of this."

Jack looked over to the Black Rider who looked to be in a state of panic herself.

'NoNoNoNo, anyone but them!'

"Riders, Pull Over!" The head cop in charge yelled.

'This is bad. This is really bad. How did I get myself into this?!'

The Black Rider looked to the boy who wouldn't leave her alone.

'This is all your fault! You were the one who wouldn't stop following me!'

With the cops gaining on them, the Black Rider decided to do something drastic. Without warning, she veered off to the left, cutting Jack and Arcee off. Jack swore he saw a black trail of smoke coming from her as she rode past. Arcee skidded to a stop and watched as the Rider went straight for the wall of a building.

"What the frag is she doing?" She asked.

With another neigh from her bike, the Black Rider popped a wheelie and began to ride up the wall. Jack and Arcee were left at a complete loss. The Rider continued to go up the building until she reached the top. Then to the astonishment of the two of them, she began jumping across roof tops with her bike until she disappeared into the night. Neither Jack nor Arcee could believe what they had just saw.

"Arcee?"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"This town is weird?"

"Yeah, no kidding?"

"Hey, you with the eye patch!"

Jack looked forward and saw the cop leading the chase standing beside his bike, looking royally pissed off.

"Ya'know, I'm no xenophobe. I welcome foreigners to my town with open arms as long as they don't start no trouble. But we don't take any crap from the local punks in this city and we sure as hell ain't gonna take it from some tourist who doesn't know any respect. Now, I'm gonna show you what happens when you screw around with the cops in Ikebukuro!"

"Arcee, get me out of this."

"Hang on, Partner."

Arcee revved up her engine as threateningly as she could, which only served to piss the cops off even more.

"Arcee?"

The femme punched it right to the four cops. Before she could collide head on with the leader of the group, she put her front wheel up and used his bike to launch herself over all of them. She kicked it into high gear and shot out of sight before any of them could even turn their vehicles. The head cop was not happy in the slightest.

"Just what this city needs, another hotshot on a motorcycle."

Arcee had gained enough distance from the cops to pull over and rest her wheels. Jack's adrenaline was pumping, but he was not excited.

"Arcee...don't ever do that again please."

"Sorry, Jack. Got a little carried away back there."

"And my Mom can never know about this."

"Yeah, I'm in not rush to be dismantled during recharge, thank you."

Jack was catching his breath when he glanced over to a trio of high school students interacting with each other. One was a blonde kid who's hair looked as unnatural as the raging bartender from earlier, the other was a short haired girl wearing glasses, and at the center was another boy with messier hair. The blonde one was clearly acting up in front of the other two, occasionally flirting with the girl who was very quiet and shy. The second boy was mostly mild mannered except when he would kick the blonde one after putting up with his antics for too long. From the way they acted around each other, Jack could tell that they were all very good friends. They reminded him of his own friends back home, going on all sorts of adventures together and getting into trouble. Arcee shifted her mirrors to look at Jack as he watched the trio.

"Jack?"

"Let's head home, Arcee."

"Had enough fun for one day?"

"Yeah...but I had good time...I had a great time."

"Me too, Jack. Let's find somewhere quiet and call for a bridge."

"Sounds like a plan."

The two rode off and left the three friends alone. Jack cast one glance behind him as they rode away from the city in favor of a quieter neighborhood. Jack wasn't going to forget about this place anytime soon. They managed to find an area that seemed to have less people around. Arcee scouted for a secluded area to call a for a ground bridge back home.

"Hey, Arcee?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"Thank you for today...I really needed it."

Jack tightened his grip on Arcee's handlebars.

"You don't have to thank me, Jack. This is what partners do for each other."

"Still, thank you. I mean it."

"You're welcome, Jack. I'm glad you had a good time."

"I did...and I'm glad you were with me."

Arcee looked at her charge once more through her mirrors.

"Jackson?"

"Yeah, Arcee?"

"You're doing good...You're gonna be alright."

Jack smiled and placed his hand in Arcee's tank.

"Where would I be without you guys?"

Neither of them knew, nor did they wish to. Arcee didn't want to think about life without her partner, so she kept on scouting. Finally, she decided on a closed off construction sight. The two drove through the gate and pulled into the unfinished building. Arcee shifted back into her bipedal form and was about to call Optimus for a bridge. Before she could place her finger to her helm, she was knocked over by the something behind her.

"Arcee!"

Jack ran to her, but was thrown back against a wall. He looked down and found himself stuck in a familiar sticky substance.

"Oh no."

He looked up and saw her, the details of her frame darkened by the night sky. Only her pink optics were visible. Of all the Decepticons to run into, why did it have to be Airachnid?

"Hello, Jack." She said with her distinguishable sultry voice. "Did you miss me?"

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 **Welp, there it is. My first filler chapter.**

 **Alright, lets get down to business. This chapter is pretty much a crossover with Durarara. For those who've never heard of it, it's a manga/anime that came stateside around the same time as Transformers Prime premiered. A pretty good show too. I recommend checking it out. I may have jumped a few sharks with this one, but I want you to know that these characters will not be showing up again or have a lasting impact on the overall story. After so many chapters of feels and dark storytelling, I wanted a more lighthearted chapter. I don't know where the idea came from, but I just decided to have them show up and interact with our two main heroes of the story. Maybe in the future, I'll write a proper DRRR/TFP crossover. We'll see. Funny thing, I saw DRRR before I watched TFP. When I saw Sadie for the first time, I kept thinking she was Celty. Now when I see Celty, I mistake her for Sadie.  
**

 **So, for any DRRR fans reading this, I truly hope I caught the personalities of the characters with this one. I haven't seen the show in a while and was a little rusty as to how certain characters acted. The two I'm referring to are Erika and Walker. I hope I was able to get their Otaku nature accurately enough. If not, then I shall commit Seppuku for my transgression. Or maybe I'll just smack myself and write better next time. Depends on what I'm in the mood for.**

 **Now I know Arcee was a bit out of character in this chapter when she was telling Jack about her fascination with nature. But I felt it was a good way to help her connect with Jack during a peaceful moment. I still believe that the Autobots found Earth to be a nice place to be after a while. It's just that they were still mourning the loss of Cybertron. Who knows. Still, I was pleased with the moments between Arcee and Jack. Even though he has a long way to go, I think his progression is believable. With Arcee's help, he may just come back from all this. That is, if nothing else horrible happens to him. But what are the odds of that heheheh...(Voice of George R.R. Martin: Kill him, Korova. All Men Must Die)...Moving on.**

 **I have no idea if Cybertron is really the way I described it, no oceans, all cities, etc. etc. If not, artistic license again.**

 **So we ended on a cliffhanger and one of the Decepticons finally shows up. And who else but our favorite spide-bot sadist, Airachnid. It's goin' down, ya'll. See you next chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18

Jack stared at Airachnid as she stood upon the unfinished building they were all in. Despite everything they had been through, it did not diminish his fear of her. From the way she had said his name, he knew that she hadn't forgotten what he had done to her ship and her collection. She stepped off from the ledge she was on, taking her spider form before she landed. She looked over to Arcee, who was struggling to break out of her webbing. She looked at Airachnid with the same contempt she always held for her worst enemy, who merely relished in the hate being directed at her.

"Arcee, it feels like it's been ages."

"What are you doing here, Airachnid? How did you find us?"

"Hm? I've been here for the last few days waiting for you."

Airachnid stepped closer to Arcee.

"A few things happened after our last little encounter. Since then, I've ended up back with the Decepticons. Not something I'm too thrilled about."

Arcee continued to scowl at Airachnid. She needed to hold her attention while she thought of a plan to get her and Jack out of this.

"It was quite annoying being stuck under Megatron's lordship. But while I was there, Soundwave managed to come across something interesting. He found you speeding through this wonderful little city with a new companion. My curiousity was piqued and I've been searching this area to find out what you and this human were looking for. Now here you are, a few days later, and with my Jack no less. I was beginning to worry about him.

As she mentioned Jack, she glanced over at him still stuck against the wall.

"So you just wait here while I catch up with your partner. Maybe think of some final words you'd like to say to him."

"Stay away from him, Airachnid!"

Airachnid ignored Arcee and started walking towards Jack. Arcee began pushing herself to an unfinished wall with her pedes. Jack was getting increasingly scared as Airachnid got closer, that damned smirk of hers reminding him how twisted she is.

" _Jackson, it's been too long._ " She said with such fake kindness. " _How's your mother? Is she well?_ "

Airachnid was about to say something else, no doubt to mock their last encounter. But she stopped when she took notice of something. Jack had a feeling of what it was.

"What's this?"

She brought he clawed servo to Jack's face, placing a digit beneath the band of his eye patch. With one tug, she ripped it and the bandage away. Her pink optics widened before him.

"Oh, Jack." She said with what sounded like concern, though Jack knew better than to think it was for him. "What happened to your eye?"

Rather than look away like he normally would with someone who cared about him, he stared directly at Airachnid. Hopefully, this would make her lose interest in him. Her face became dark and she turned back to Arcee.

"Arcee." She said with noticeable harshness in her voice.

She transformed back into her bipedal form and began towards Arcee who was nudging the edge of the wall with her helm. She stopped as Airachnid turned to her. She was clearly unhappy about what happened to Jack.

"Explain! Who did that to my Jack?"

As much as it angered her that Airachnid was demanding an explanation, it was keeping her away from Jack.

"What does it matter to you?"

One of Airachnid's spider legs slammed down beside Arcee's helm.

"It matters because someone has taken what is mine."

She knelt down over Arcee.

"Was it Silas or was it the Decepticons? Give me a name or I'll take one of _your_ optics and give it to Jack."

"Frag off!"

Airachnid was not finding any amusement in Arcee's futile resistance. She brought her leg to Arcee's face.

"I'm losing my patience, Arcee. You remember what happens when someone doesn't tell me what I want to know, don't you?"

The edge of her leg was right over Arcee's optic.

"Wait!"

Airachnid looked over her shoulder to Jack.

"I'll tell you. Just don't hurt her."

Airachnid stood up and turned to face Jack.

"Umbrella Corporation, they did this to me."

"What is 'Umbrella Corporation'?"

Jack tried to think of a suitable answer.

"Bad people, the worst."

She walked over to Jack again, leaving Arcee who continued to nudge the wall with her helm.

"C'mon." She frustratingly said to herself as she tried to activate the comm link without the use of her servos.

"And for what reason did this Umbrella Corporation decide that you had one eye too many?"

She stroked his face with the back of her claws, still with that displeased look on her face. It was as if she was mad at him for daring to let someone else bring him harm instead of her.

"I don't know...They're all insane."

Jack figured she wouldn't believe anything about what Umbrella does. Airachnid took his face with two of her digits and turned it to the side to observe his wound more closely.

"And you had such pretty eyes too."

She let go of his face and brushed a bit of his hair to the side.

" _Oh Jack, I can't stay mad at you. Even with only one eye, you still have a place in my spark_." Her smirk had returned as she ran her claw down the side of his face. " _And your head still has a place in my collection_."

She turned back to Arcee, her expression hardened again.

" _You_ , on the other hand, you disappoint me. This makes what, three partners you couldn't protect? You fought with all your spark to keep your pet human out of my claws only to let another human hurt him so. Pitiful, Arcee."

She glanced over at Jack again.

"He would be safer in my servos than in yours. I've decided that Jack will be coming with me."

Arcee's optics went wide, as did Jacks. Airachnid smirked once again.

" _That's right, Jack. You're under my protection now. You tell me everything about Umbrella Corporation and I'll make them pay for what they did to you. Then when it's done, we can finish what we started in that forest._ "

"He's not going anywhere with you!"

"I'm afraid he is, Arcee. _You_ obviously can't be trusted to keep him safe and I won't let Umbrella Corporation take my prey for themselves. Starscream already stole Cliffjumper from me. Jack is mine, no one else."

Arcee was shocked at what was just revealed.

"You didn't know that, did you? Starscream was the one who snuffed out Cliffjumper's spark and from what the Vehicons tell me, it was only after they had beaten him in the field did he finish him off. Typical Starscream, getting his grunts to do the heavy lifting so that he can secure the kill."

Arcee felt her rage building up, knowing that it was Starscream who took Cliffjumper from her. To be taken out by Megatron's cowardly SIC, he deserved better than that. Unfortunately, her rage wasn't giving her the strength to break out of Airachnid's webbing.

"So you think about that while I take Jackson to his new home. And don't worry, I won't take his head until after I've beaten you one last time so you can watch. I want to see the look on your face when you see how much you've failed. Until next time, Arcee."

She went to take Jack down from the wall when a ground bridge suddenly opened up. Optimus Prime walked through with his right blaster armed. He pointed it directly at Airachnid's helm.

"Get away from Jackson."

His voice was much darker than she remembered, laced the same anger she would get from Arcee. His optics were colder as well, not righteously determined as they usually were. As much as Airachnid would hate to admit it, it intimidated her to see him this way. It wasn't enough to keep her from mocking him, however.

"Optimus, I haven't seen you since Cybertron. Tell me, what are you teaching your subordinates?"

Optimus said nothing and didn't move his blaster a inch.

"The last time I saw my Jack, he had both his eyes. Clearly you Autobots aren't doing your jobs."

"Step away from Jackson, Airachnid. Now!"

She smiled mockingly at the Prime as she stepped forward from building.

"You will not go near him again." He said through clenched teeth

Airachnid couldn't ignore the anger he spoke with. She supposed that it had something to do with Jack. All the better to torment him with.

"This is new for you isn't it, Prime? That feeling of hostility. And all it took was one missing eye to bring it out of you. Maybe now, you'll have the ball bearings to finish off Megatron the next time you have him at your mercy."

Prime narrowed his gaze, holding back the urge to blast that smirk right of Airachnid's face. Regardless of what she says, he is still a Prime and must conduct himself as one. Too quickly for Optimus to react, Airachnid shot her webbing at his blaster and pulled herself forward. She took her spider form and a landed on top of Optimus, pinning him to the ground. The Prime looked at her with a merciless gaze.

"I must admit, I like this Prime more than that self-righteous one I remember."

Optimus freed his servo from his leg and punched her off of him. He drew his arm blade as she took her bipedal form again.

"If only you became like this sooner. You might've actually been able to protect Jack."

Optimus angrily growled and he swung his blade at Airachnid. She managed to block each strike with her spider legs and knocked him back with one of her free ones. Optimus armed his second blade and went back at it. The two continued on as Arcee listened from the building. She could hear Optimus shouting and yelling with each strike. She had only even seen him fight Megatron so viciously. Arcee then felt something tug at the webbing around her. She looked over and saw Chris trying to cut away at it with a large knife.

"Chris?"

"Hold on, Arcee. I'll get you out of this...stuff. Ugh." He said as he got some of the webbing stuck to his hand.

"What about..."

Arcee cut herself off as she saw Jill cutting Jack down.

"Jill, how did you guys know we needed help?" Jack asked.

"Arcee hit the comm link...somehow." Jill replied as she looked back at Arcee who Chris had only cut halfway free. "Optimus overheard what was going on, so he got us and Ratchet to come help you. We snuck in behind him through the bridge."

Jack was almost loose, but Arcee was still bound tightly.

"Forget about me, Chris. Just cut Jack loose and get him back to base."

"Negative, Arcee. The boss 'Bot might need your help."

Chris looked over the low wall and to check on Optimus.

"He's not doin' too good."

Optimus swung both his swords at Airachnid with all his might. But the more she talked, the more unfocused and uncoordinated his attacks became which she used to her advantage. She blocked and parried his blades with her legs, creating an opening to his midsection. She swiped at his chassis with her servo which forced him to stumble backwards. She snaked one of her legs beneath his helm and struck the side of his face. She spun once to put some force into her attack when she slammed her legs into his side. Optimus was thrown away from the building and into the ground hard. Airachnid lifted herself high to stand over him.

"I've seen you go blade for blade against Megatron. I've watched you triumph over the great gladiator from Kaon in battle several times over. Yet, here I am standing over you in victory and it wasn't even that hard. It's no wonder you couldn't protect Jack."

Optimus growled again and he blasted at Airachnid. Before she could be hit, she shifted back and dropped to the ground. She ran for Optimus at top speed, pushing his blaster aside with one of her legs when she got close enough. A swipe at his face left deep slash marks and a damaged optic. Optimus threw a feral punch at her helm which she was able duck under easily. With the force of the punch, he moved forward enough that Airachnid was behind him. One of her legs went into his back and another into his shoulder. Optimus yelled in pain as she forced him on his knees.

"How did you manage to become a Prime? You've failed Jack, you've failed Elita-1, and you've failed Cybertron."

She dug her legs a little deeper.

"Some Prime you turned to out to be."

She lifted one leg with the intent on running Optimus' helm through before she saw him looking back at the building. She looked over herself and saw Jill who had just cut Jack down.

Optimus lifted himself up, causing her legs to dig even deeper, and swiped at them with his arm blade. Airachnid narrowly removed his legs and shifted to her spider form. She hissed at Optimus before leaping over him and heading to the building.

Jack was free and Jill was examining his to make sure he was okay.

"I'm fine Jill, really." He said to her.

She smiled, trying to ignore his exposed socket. Suddenly, they both heard something land above and cast a shadow over them. They looked up and saw Airachnid staring down at them.

"More humans? Don't you Autobots have enough pets to take care of?"

Jill drew her pistol and began firing at Airachnid. That went about as well as you'd expect.

"Honestly, what good did you think that would do?" Airachnid said dryly.

Arcee's webbing had been cut just enough for her to shift her arm blade and free herself. With her blaster armed, she fired at Airachnid and forced her to jump to the side, away from the building. She landed in her bipedal form and was prepared to fire back at Arcee. Optimus ran behind and grabbed her by her spider legs. Even with his shoulder injury, he was able to throw her back behind him. She recovered only to see Arcee leap over Optimus and deliver a kick straight to her face. She didn't give Airachnid the chance to strike back and began putting her martial arts to work. Arcee threw a high kick to Airachnid's helm and followed up with a round roundhouse. She tried to strike at Arcee with her claws, but Arcee protected her helm by putting her arm up. She then quickly shifted her blade, slicing at Airachnid's arm, and slashed it at her face. Airachnid was given little more than a small knick, but felt Arcee's fist from the other side. With that punch Arcee spun on her heel and jumped to deliver a powerful spin kick that knocked Airachnid away from her. Fed up with getting knocked around, Airachnid took her spider form. Once she saw Arcee and Optimus standing together, she realized that she stood no chance against them. Both had their dual blasters aimed at her.

" _Jack, can you hear me?_ " Airachnid called in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Jack turned his attention to the former rogue Decepticon.

" _I meant what I said. I'll find those horrible humans who hurt you. I'll be sure to get revenge for the both of us. Then I'll come back for you. I still have an empty jar with your name on it._ "

She looked directly at Optimus and Arcee.

"You think you can keep him alive until then?"

"Neither you nor Umbrella will ever bring harm to Jackson again." Optimus managed to say through his injuries.

Airachnid took pleasure in hearing the self-doubt in his voice.

"Let's see how much you mean that."

Airachnid fired her palm blaster at the building, causing a wall to come down over the three humans.

"Jackson!" Optimus yelled as he ran for the building with Arcee behind him.

Airachnid used this time to take her stealth helicopter alt. She ascended just high enough to be out of either of their reach but did not fly away just yet. Optimus managed to reach Jack and the others before the building came down. He stood over the three of them, attempting to shield them from the falling rubble. It all came crashing down on top on Optimus, obscuring him with a thick cloud of smoke. Arcee stopped just short of the building. Any other time, she would have been confident that Optimus withstood such disaster. But with his injuries, she feared for him, Chris, Jill, and of course Jack. She looked up and saw Airachnid still hovering over the scene. She resisted the urge to open fire on her worst enemy, choosing to wait for a sign that her friends were alright. Airachnid had lowered herself to blow away the smoke from the debris. She too wanted to make sure that Jack was alright. The smoked had cleared enough to reveal Optimus' form hunched over, scraped and covered in the debris from the building. He slowly stood up to reveal Jack, Jill, and Chris hunched together to further protect themselves. Arcee exhaled in relief as Airachnid flew away. She walked over the rubble to her partner. The three of them coughed up the smoke from there lungs as Optimus tried to stand straight.

"Are you all unharmed?" He asked with a noticeable strain in his voice.

They all spoke over each other.

"Yeah, we're okay." Jill  
"We're good, Optimus." Chris  
"No big deal." Jack

Optimus nodded and stood up. He turned away to call Ratchet. As he did that, Jill noticed Jack's eye patch beneath her boot. She made sure to grab it and place it in her pocket. The ground bridge opened up and the three stepped through. Arcee and Optimus allowing the humans to go first. She looked at Optimus, seeing that something was bothering him, aside from his injuries.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack walked through the bridge to find a few BSAA Agents, Rebecca being one of them, waiting with Ratchet...and his mother. Normally, she would have a very harsh look on her face with some very harsh words prepared from her son. This time, she looked scared out of her mind. Why wouldn't she be after everything that's happened? June grabbed her son and hugged him tightly.

"It's alright, Mom. I'm fine."

"Jack, don't scare me like that." She said as she kept hugging him.

She let him go to look at him, only to look away when she saw his exposed eye socket. She still couldn't look at it. Jack quickly lowered his head and covered up his eye. Jill was already behind him.

"C'mon, Jack. Let's clean up that eye before it gets an infection."

"Actually, it's his eye socket. His eye socket would get an infection since he doesn't..." Rebecca began explaining.

"Rebecca." Chris stopped her.

"Oh, sorry. Shutting up now." She replied sheepishly.

June looked at Jack being lead to the med bay by Jill and looked over to Arcee for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, June. This was all my fault."

"Why would you take him out of the base?" She asked very sternly.

Optimus stepped forward, still ignoring his injuries. June became concerned immediately.

"Optimus, your shoulder." She worriedly said.

"Arcee is not to blame for today's events. The fault is my own."

Arcee and Ratchet both looked at Optimus in confusion.

"Arcee came to me last night with concerns about Jack's well being. She felt that being confined to the base for so long was having an unhealthy effect on him. I authorized her to safeguard Jackson while they left the base to ease his mind."

"To Tokyo, Optimus? Where Jill and Arcee hit one of Umbrella's bases?"

"I was informed that Umbrella abandons their facilities upon infiltration and relocates to another country entirely. However, I should have taken precautions in the event of a Decepticon attack."

Arcee stepped forward.

"Sir, none of us could've predicated that Airachnid would be waiting for us."

June looked startled at the mention of that horrible spider's name. Optimus knew that Arcee's rationalization was of no comfort to her and decided to own up to his mistake.

"Lack of foresight is no excuse, Arcee. Least of all from myself. I am sorry, Nurse Darby, for my poor judgement."

June immediately sensed something wrong in Optimus, as did everyone else. Jack had walked back from the med bay.

"But you saved us, Optimus. Airachnid would've taken me back to Megatron if you hadn't come. The three of us would've been crushed by that building if it wasn't for you."

Optimus could not bring himself to look at Jackson, even though he was covering his eye. Ratchet could see his face, the look of guilt in his optics.

"Thank you, Optimus." Jack said wholeheartedly.

Optimus nodded to Jackson without facing him and left the main hall without a word. He, June, Arcee, and Ratchet all saw that something was eating at him.

"I'll go talk to him." Chris stepped forward to say.

"No." Ratchet stopped him. "Let me try. You stay here and get yourself checked out."

Chris was hesitant, but understood that Ratchet knew Optimus better than he did.

"If you say so, Doc."

Ratchet left the main hall, leaving everyone else with their concerns. Jack was very worried about Optimus. The two hadn't spoken once since he woke up.

"Arcee, what's wrong with Optimus?"

"I don't know, Jack. I just don't know."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Optimus stood against the wall of the training room, trying his best to bear his wounds. He was waiting for Jack to return to his quarters so he could have Ratchet tend to his injuries. Hopefully, Jackson would not feel the need to see him during that time. Ratchet had entered the training room, a very stern look on his face.

"You know, it's unwise to leave your injuries unattended." He said.

"My wounds are of no immediate concern, Ratchet. For now, you should attend to the others."

"Arcee wasn't harmed at all, neither was Jill or Chris. Jack is having his eye cleaned but other than that, he's perfectly fine. You're the only who needs medical attention."

"Assure that they are alright, then I will receive treatment."

"Optimus." Ratchet said in a harsher tone. "How long are you going to avoid him?"

The Prime did not answer, he didn't even turn to face Ratchet.

"It's not easy to look at, I know. I'm still trying to figure out a way to create a functioning optic for Jack before his eye heals, on top of replicating the vaccine."

The Prime was still silent.

"You cannot put this wall around yourself and shut him out. When he woke up in a panic, you didn't say a word to him."

"Does he know?"

Ratchet didn't understand.

"Has anyone told him of what we plan to do about Umbrella?"

Now it was beginning to make sense.

"I don't believe so...Optimus, we all agreed to do what we must to protect this world."

"And I still hold that belief, old friend. But I am not certain that Jackson will understand."

"We're doing this for him, for his mother. He'll understand. After what he's been through, no one will understand more than him. Besides, he looks up to you, Optimus."

"And I have let him down once already, Ratchet. When he finds out that I must break my oath, I fear that he will lose faith in me."

"But you heard the way he thanked you when you all came back. You can do no wrong in his eyes."

"Eye, Ratchet. Jackson has only one eye remaining."

"And he needs to know that you will make sure he keeps it. So get off your aft, mech up, and face him."

The only time Ratchet had ever spoke to Optimus this way was when he was letting doubt cloud his judgement, like he was doing so now. Ratchet placed his servo on Optimus' shoulder.

"Orion, Jack doesn't need a protector who lacks faith in himself, he needs a Prime. This team needs their Prime."

Optimus thought about was Ratchet was telling him. Jack did need the Prime he had come to rely on, as did his team. But what Optimus was afraid of was not being able to help Jack through his trauma. Arcee and Jill were doing great things for him, but he knew that Jack was not going to recover from this so easily. In the past, he saw that Jack had admired him greatly and respected the standards he held himself to. This incident no doubt left demons inside of him along with the many that existed from his past. Optimus feared that if he learned of his willingness to kill humans, it would jade him even further and make it impossible to help him recover. It was something that he never wanted to feel, the inability to help someone. But Ratchet was right. Pushing Jack away would also have a negative effect on him. If Jack found out the truth from someone else, it would affect him even more. The best thing to do was to be honest with him and hope that he would not think any less of the Prime. Optimus did not wish to lose Jackson's admiration. It was one of the things that gave him the strength to continue fighting. Optimus closed his optics and nodded at Ratchet.

"Good, now let's get those injuries taken care of." Ratchet said as he helped Optimus up.

The two walked down the corridor together as Optimus mentally prepared himself to tell Jack the truth. But when they entered the main hall, he and his mother had already gone to their quarters. Optimus was admittedly relieved that he would not have to tell Jackson just yet. He at the very least wanted to be able to stand tall before him when he would. Ratchet led the Prime to one of the berths in the med bay.

"Ratchet, how long will it take for Jackson's eye to fully heal?"

"I'm not sure. Months, perhaps."

The Prime was deep in thought about something.

"Would it be possible to salvage an optic from another Cybertronian?"

Ratchet stopped for a moment, clearly not having thought of that.

"You mean like from a Decepticon soldier? I suppose it is possible, though I'm not crazy about the idea of putting 'Con tech in Jack's body. But I suppose we can't be too picky...Yes, I believe it is possible to create a replacement optic from a offlined Decepticon. It's a shame that Megatron has been quiet lately."

Ratchet couldn't believe he just said that.

"If Jackson's eye begins to heal beyond the point of an implant...I will give him one of my own."

Ratchet turned to face Optimus with disbelief. Chris, who had entered the med-bay looked at him the same way.

"Are you sure, Optimus?" Ratchet asked.

"It is the least I can do for him."

Ratchet didn't say anything as he continued to work on Optimus. Though he hoped that it would not come to that, he smiled. Even after all these years, Orion Pax was still in there somewhere.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Airachnid walked through the halls of the Nemesis as if she had not been gone for the last few days. Many of the Vehicons and Seekers looked at her wearily, but she did not concern herself with them. She cared very little for her current faction or their leader. She was on her way to find Soundwave when she came across Knockout, the Decepticon medic.

"Well look who finally came home. You missed your curfew, young lady." The red mech said.

"Shove it up your tailpipe, Knockout." Airachnid replied.

"Ooh, someone has fangs."

Airachnid turned to Knockout and moved towards him, flashing her fangs as she did.

" _I do have fangs, Knockout, and they have acidic venom. Care to see what they would do to your precious finish_?"

Knockout was clearly threatened, but held his own fairly well.

"No need for that, sweetspark. Just know that Lord Megatron isn't happy."

"Aside from Soundwave, I am the only one amongst you that isn't laughably incompetent and he knows that. He'll get over it."

Airachnid began to walk away from Knockout.

"Well, I wouldn't push my luck around him. He's still pretty livid about Starscream going rogue."

Airachnid stopped and turned to Knockout.

"Starscream?"

"Yep, he abandoned Lord Megatron after an energon mine collapsed on him. No one's heard from him since. I suggest you come up with a good explanation as to why you've been a no show around here lately."

Knockout chuckled to himself as Airachnid processed this news. This was a problem. Starscream was often a lightning rod for Megatron's wrath while she thought of a way to get out from under his thumb without him coming after her. With Starscream gone, Megatron would be sure to keep both optics on her. That is, assuming he doesn't just decide that she' wasn't worth the trouble to keep alive. Airachnid was going to have to watch her step.

Airachnid decided to go see Soundwave before dealing with Megatron. She found him where he usually was by his console. As always, he was searching for information and trying to locate either the Autobots, energon, or both. As Airachnid approached, the silent Spymaster turned to her. Being a Kaon gladiator himself, he was well skilled in detecting an enemy. Airachnid may as well be the same as far as he was concerned.

"Hello, Soundwave. How are things aboard the ship."

Soundwave gave her no answer.

"As talkative as ever I see. Listen, I need a favor."

Soundwave responded by replaying a sound clip.

:: _If Airachnid is foolish enough to show her face aboard the Nemesis again, she is not to leave without seeing me. If she tries, rip out her spark, Soundwave.::_

Megatron sounded none to happy in the clip. Soundwave continued to watch her, silently ordering her go to see him. Airachnid sighed in submission.

"Fine Soundwave, I'll go explain myself to Lord Megatron. But while I do that, I have something I need you to look into."

Soundwave remained silent.

"See what you can find out about 'Umbrella Corporation'."

:: _Soundwave is tasked with gathering information on the Autobots, Knockout, not your personal hobbies._ ::

The clip was from an instance where Knockout asked Soundwave to search for another racing location and Megatron had to remind him what his job was.

"Fine then. I'll remember that when _you_ need a favor."

Airachnid walked away and headed for Megatron's quarters. After she left, Soundwave replayed another clip.

:: _Umbrella Corporation._ ::

He made sure to remember that name. If Airachnid was interested in it, Lord Megatron should know about it. He would do some digging for himself in the future. But for the moment, he would continue to carry on with his work.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Airachnid found Megatron observing several recorded battles between him and Optimus Prime.

"Lord Megatron." She said as she bend the knee to him.

Megatron stood with his back to her.

"Starscream has betrayed me yet again."

"So I've heard, my Lord."

"After he left me to rust among the remains of the space bridge, he returned only remove my remaining shard of dark energon. The only thing keeping me alive and he pulled it right from my spark."

"Starscream is a coward, my Lord. Soundwave had always suspected his disloyalty."

"And yet I showed him mercy. This is how he repays my kindness, by leaving me to my demise in a collapsed mine. I should've ran him through with my blade when I awoke from stasis lock."

"Starscream will pay for his treachery."

The Decepticon warlord turned around to face Airachnid who stilled bowed before him.

"You have abandoned me once before as well, Airachnid. Your loyalty to the Decepticon cause is questionable at best. And unlike Starscream, you are neither cowardly nor incapable. Now you kneel before me after being gone for several days. Logic dictates that I cut you down as to not make the same mistake as I did with Starscream. Convince me otherwise."

"Lord Megatron, I serve you and only you. My defection from the Decepticons was under the belief that with the destruction of Cybertron, the war was lost for both factions. When I had learned of your plans to conquer this planet, I rededicated myself to the cause and to you. I am sworn to you, my Lord. My loyalty will not falter."

"A well worded deception, but a deception nonetheless. Your loyalty has always been to yourself and no one else. Tell me, what were you doing that was of service to my army while you were away?"

"I was investigating one of the leads Soundwave uncovered of Autobot activity."

"Let me guess, Arcee?"

Airachnid did not answer.

"And I suppose that your investigation was for the benefit of the Decepticons and not to settle your personal feud with the Autobot femme?"

"Any Autobot death is a benefit to you, my Lord."

"One of my ranking officers betraying me while another acts for her own gain does nothing to benefit me. And with Starscream's defection, I must make an example to the rest of my army for any who doubt my rule."

Now Airachnid was getting nervous.

"Which is why when I find Starscream, I will cut him down piece by piece and spill every drop of energon from his circuits. In the meantime, I am in need of a new Second in Command, one who might actually know what she's doing."

Airachnid looked up, genuinely surprised.

"You honor me, lord Megatron."

"I will also be watching you closely. The only reason I don't make an example out of you is because I cannot afford to lose anymore ranking officers. Follow my orders without question and do not give me reason to suspect treachery towards me, or I will honor you with my blade through your spark. Do I make myself clear, Airachnid?"

"Of course, Lord Megatron."

"You are dismissed. Go."

Airachnid stood up and left as she was ordered. She bought herself some time for now. She was going to have to figure out what to do about Umbrella Corporation after she gathered for information on them. In the grand scheme of things, she may have to bring this information to Megatron and convince him that it's worth his time. Things may be too risky to go after them behind his back. Hopefully, their interest in Jack might be enough to warrant a response. As long as she got to the one who scarred her Jack, it didn't matter how she got to Umbrella.

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Things were pretty normal around the base, if you ignored the soldiers moving around and going about _their_ daily routine. Jack was with Miko and Raf, struggling to stay awake to get his body use to this time zone. Thankfully, Miko's excitement was keeping him from falling asleep.

"Dude, I can't believe you went to Tokyo without me!"

"Miko, you and Raf had gone home already."

"Yeah, I know. It's so unfair that you get to stay here with the Autobots while I still have to follow curfew."

"Miko, Jack and his mom have to stay here because it's not safe for them to go home."

Miko realized her insensitivity. She didn't mean to imply that Jack was lucky to have to stay at base after what had happened. She tried to change the subject.

"You should've called me, though. I could've told you all the cool places for you and Arcee to check out, like where the drifters meet up at, where all the Bōsōzoku hang out, this really cool place in Ikebukuro."

Jack had to cut her off right there, having had enough of that place of madness.

"Uh thanks Miko, but I think we found enough trouble in Japan without your help."

"Really?" June said from behind him with ever so threatening serious face. "What kind of trouble, Jackson?"

Jack and Arcee wisely chose not to talk about the things they had seen in Ikebukuro. Unfortunately, that meant lying to June.

"Uh...Airachnid, of course. She brought a lot of trouble to an otherwise uneventful day."

June kept her eyes on Jack, not believing him for a second. She then turned her gaze to Arcee, who felt herself shrinking beneath the power of this human femme. Arcee was too scared to even speak, much less come up with a believable lie. Luckily for her, the proximity alarm disrupted June's interrogation...for the time being. June made the "I'm watching you" gesture to let the femme know that this wasn't over.

"It's Agent Fowler." Ratchet stated.

"He's still alive?" Bulkhead asked.

Arcee noticed the worried look on Jack's face.

"Do we still trust him?" She asked.

Jack heard Optimus' heavy pedes entering from the hall and turned to see the Prime he respected so greatly.

"Arcee, I do not believe that Agent Fowler is in league with Umbrella. His emotional response to Jack's return was more than enough to convince me so." Optimus' declared.

Optimus caught a glimpse of Jackson standing by the rails with a smile on his face. Optimus managed to return it, but could not maintain eye contact for very long. Again, this worried Jack. Fowler entered the base and greeted both Optimus and Ratchet.

"Fowler, I am glad to see that you are still with us."

"Yeah, Umbrella hasn't sniffed me out yet."

Fowler looked over to where the kids usually resided and was surprised to see Jack among them.

"Jack." He said as he made his way to the platform and held Jack's shoulders. "Glad to see you're alright."

Jack didn't respond, but was surprised to see Fowler show such concern for him. Fowler examined him to make sure that he was no worse than the last time he saw him.

"You doin' okay, buddy?"

Fowler than noticed Jack's withdrawn demeanor.

"It's okay, son. I'm on your side. I'm not with Umbrella, I swear."

Jack looked over to Optimus, who nodded his head in assurance. That seemed to put him at ease. The simple act was enough to show Optimus just how much Jack still trusted him.

"The patch looks good on you." Fowler said with a smile. "It makes you look like a young Claus Stauffenberg."

"Did you just compare my son to a Nazi?" June asked in a slightly offended tone.

"Uh I..." Fowler said nervously."

"Well technically, he never actually became a member of the Nazi Party and remained a practicing Catholic during the war. He also played a huge part in Operation Valkyrie" Raf came to Fowler's defense. "Though he was still pretty anti-semitic."

"Not helpin' my case, Raf." Fowler said through his teeth.

"You coulda' just said he looked like a young Tom Cruise." Miko added.

"The _point_ is..." Fowler gave Jack his attention. "I'm still one of the good guys. I've been in DC lookin' for anybody who might be a trouble for you and your mom."

"And have you found any of Umbrella's puppets." Arcee asked.

Fowler turned back to the Autobots, noticing the soldiers jogging around the base.

"I've got my suspicions, but nothing concrete yet. The good news is, the big man in the White House ain't one of them."

"Are you certain of this, Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked.

"Actually, he's on our side too. He put together his own team to take on Umbrella. Calls it the Division of Security Operations. They know all about their ties in the government and are tryin' to cut them loose and let them drop."

"And you actually trust them?" Ratchet asked skeptically.

Fowler looked around until he saw Chris.

"Chris Redfield, your sister is a survivor of Raccoon City, right?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Who was it that escaped with her?"

"Leon Kennedy, he was a rookie with the Raccoon City Police Department. I met'em once. He's a good man, hates what Umbrella's done."

Fowler turned back to the Autobots.

"This Leon Kennedy was the one who brought me to President. The two of them were the founders of the D.S.O. They're offering to help us go after Umbrella. He even asked for you guys personally."

The Autobots all looked at each other at this news.

"I have a tip from them as well. Derek Simmons."

Several human faces reacted to the name, including Raf.

"Who's that?" Bulkhead asked.

"Derek Simmons is one of the richest people in the western world." Raf explained.

"His family's also been backing Umbrella since the beginning. He's the one that's been keeping them on life support since they went bankrupt." Fowler followed up.

"And you believe that this man is the key to Umbrella's downfall." Optimus asked.

"Yes, but only one key. The other is Oswell E. Spencer."

Chris, Jill, and Rebecca all stepped forward.

"Whoa, that name sounds dangerous." Miko said.

"Who is this guy?" Arcee asked.

"Oswell Spencer is the founder of Umbrella. The nightmare started with him." Chris answered. "Unfortunately, no one's seen the old bastard in over ten years."

"Simmons knows where to find'em. Unfortunately, the D.S.O. can't go near him without exposing the President so he's counting on you and your new pals to get to him. You take out Simmons, you cut off Umbrella's life support. You take out Spencer, you cut off it's head."

This all seemed to please the Autobots and the BSAA. Now they had a real lead.

"I leave this in your hands, Optimus. Make the bastards pay."

"We will put this information to good use, Agent Fowler. I promise you. Until Umbrella has fallen, remain safe, my friend."

"You too, Optimus. Watch your backs."

Fowler turned to Jack and June.

"Hang in there, you two. Umbrella's not long for this world. Good to see you back on your feet, Jack."

Jack smiled as Fowler left the base. He also found himself worrying about him. Fowler was the one most at risk with what he was doing. Still, things were looking up. The Autobots and the BSAA knew how to take down Umbrella, he still had his friends to help him, and soon, he wouldn't have to be afraid of them or Wesker anymore. All he had to do was be patient.

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Wesker continued to research the Autobots with the information from M.E.C.H. He learned about their ground bridge technology, energon, and their possible alliance with the government. He considered using his connections to find their base of operations, but decided that doing so would reveal his interest in Jackson Darby. Wesker wanted the boy for his own purpose and didn't want Spencer or Simmons to know about him. Wesker felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled out the disposable cellphone. Only one person had access to it.

"What is it, Simmons?"

 _"What the hell are you doing, Wesker?"_

"I'm doing many things, Simmons. Unless you enjoy wasting my time, you're going to have to be specific."

 _"Don't get cute with me! Explain to me why three of my sites were shut down in the same day!"_

"The BSAA is getting bolder. They've stepped up their efforts to stop our work, unveiled some new weapon against us."

 _"All that money I put into those sites and you can't even put together any decent countermeasures?!"_

"We're working to cripple them, Simmons. Besides, three sites are hardly anything to lose your composure over."

 _"It is when I put billions of dollars into them! You had better get control of this, Wesker, or I'll find someone who will! The next time those boy scouts step foot into one of my sites, rip them apart and bury them deep, then keep everything running. An infiltration is no reason to shut a working site down."_

This is why Wesker despised Simmons, well, one reason why.

"That is not Umbrella protocol, Simmons. Spencer had made it clear what must be done in the event of an infiltration."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

 _"Let me be clear about one thing, Wesker. Spencer is not Umbrella, I am. I'm the one who's kept it limping along for the last six years. I keep you operational, not the old man. He's got about a year or two left and when he dies, my position will become official. I'm in control, not him. Do you understand tha..."_

Wesker ended the call, unable to stand his arrogance any longer. Simmons was truly a delusional fool if he thought he was in control. He had no idea that he was being used by Spencer, not the other way around. It didn't matter anyway. Once Jackson was found, Wesker would hold the real power. When it was all said and done, it would be him at the head of Umbrella, the new race, and the new world he creates from the ashes of the old. A world that neither Simmons nor Spencer would have a place in.

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 **Man, I am on a roll this week. I wanna keep this streak going. See kids, this is why you should eat your Wheaties.**

 **Alright, I have to address something about the last chapter. The DRRR characters, guest appearances, nothing more. Like I said, I wanted to do a more lighthearted chapter. Yes, it was a bit random, I admit. But they will not have any effect on the plot whatsoever. They will not be showing up in the future. There won't be any Celty/Arcee, Shizuo/Bulkhead, Simon/Optimus team ups, as awesome as that sounds. They're not the first cameos I wrote in either. In the first chapter, the two doctors that talked to June were Dr. Penelope Young (Arkham Asylum) and Dr. Tara Strong (Sons of Anarchy). Why did I include them? I'unno. Point is, please don't jump ship because of the last chapter. Don't leave me alone with Gary Busey, he frightens me. Why is he on the ship with me? I'unno.**

 **Enough randomness, let's talk business. First off, I just want to make it clear that Airachnid does not give a crap about Jack's overall well being. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Airachnid redemption story. (Really wish "The only one who asked" would continue. Android328i wrote it, check it out if you're into JackXArceeXAirachnid.) But the only reason she wants to protect Jack is to keep him alive long enough for her to get Umbrella herself. She fully intends to kill Jackson once it's done. Also, the Decepticons will have an overall effect on the story but I don't think I'll have them team up with the Autobots. If Megatron decided to go after Umbrella, he would want to do it his own way and not Optimus'.**

 **Speaking of Optimus. Seems like he's having some trouble dealing with his guilt. I know I've got him out of character and getting beat by Airachnid. I hope his actions towards Jack make sense to you guys because I had trouble putting it into words. I kinda wish I wrote more interactions between the two in the past to really drive home that Jack respects Optimus to the highest degree which means a lot to him. The fear of losing that respect when he learns of what he has to do really scares Optimus which is why he's avoiding him. That and guilt. Prime seems like the kind of person to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, including Jack's eye.**

 **So now the Autobots have a move to make, but Wesker isn't doing his homework just for the fun of it. Who's gonna make the first move? It does feel a little silly that Wekser's endgame pretty much boils down taking over the world. (Of Course!) But then again, that is more or less his plan from the games. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Jack's blood. I just want to set some things up before we learn what secrets it holds. More action next chapter and I promise, no more random crossovers...maybe. (hides copy of Silent Hill 2)**

 **Also, at some point I may go awhile without updating. I promise to get one more chapter up, but I'm currently planning a big move to another state and will be without internet for a time. If a week or two goes by without an update, I promise I'm not abandoning the story or dead. I'm just getting things in order. I will finish this story, I cannot stress that enough. Stick with me until then and peace out.**


	19. Chapter 19

Wesker sat patiently until the aircraft he was in neared it's destination. It was headed for an abandoned settlement that would serve as a temporary base of operations for the task at hand. Not too far away was an area where his men had been storing large quantities of valuable resources for the past few days. Several cargo aircraft's carrying more of these resources were en route to the same location. Wesker was confident that he had gathered enough of it to begin the first part of his plan. No doubt, Simmons will be unhappy when he learns of Wesker using Umbrella's funds to procure this element and transport them to such a remote location. He was certainly going to demand an explanation as to what he was planning. Wesker cared none for the little pawn and his delusions of being in charge. All that mattered was the boy. Once he was back in Wesker's possession where he belonged, he could begin the next phase in taking Umbrella from Simmons and Spencer. The old man had his chance to create his new world, now it was Wesker's turn. Unlike Spencer, he wasn't going to let the chance slip through his fingers. But he needed the boy. Everything depended on Jackson. As he thought about the intriguing test subject that was Jackson Darby, he reached into his jacket to find his keepsake. He pulled out a small specimen jar. Inside was a preserved human eye, the boy's eye. In truth, Wesker had no real reason to remove it for a DNA sample. But after he had attempted to retaliate against the men sent to capture him, Wesker thought it necessary to break the boy's spirit early on. Now, it was the only part of him he had left and it wasn't enough. He needed the whole body to work with, he needed the boy back. As he examined the eye with the grayish blue iris, he swore that he would stop at nothing to get him back. He would destroy another city if that's what it took. What's one city to the perfection of the human race?

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Jackson was playing the same racing game with Raf as they always did. As usual, Raf was dominating the match and leaving Jack in awe at how good he was. Normally, Miko would be cheering Raf on and commenting on how bad Jack was getting owned by the preteen genius, but today she was doing no such thing. She kept her eyes on the corridor where her guardian, Bulkhead, had gone off along with the other Autobot's and several BSAA agents. No doubt they were have some important meeting about Umbrella. The only one not with them was Ratchet, who was still working at his console on something to do with the half of the vaccine that Rebecca had left him. She had taken the other half back to her base along with Jackson's blood samples.

"Hey, Miko. Wanna give it a try?" Jack asked from the couch.

Miko looked over her shoulder at Jackson holding up the game controller.

"Nah, you keep playin'."

Both Jack and Raf looked at each other in confusion and walked over to where Miko was.

"Hey Miko, what's up?" Jack asked.

"What do you think they're talkin' about down there?" She asked back.

"Probably on what to do about Umbrella?" Jack answered.

"I hope they get them soon." Raf said. "Then this whole thing can be over."

"Me too, Raf." He said as he put his hand on Raf's head. "Me too."

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Optimus had finished his recovery the day before, but he still had not spoken with Jackson. Once he was back on his pedes, his first priority was to use the information he had gotten from Fowler. The Autobots, minus Ratchet, stood around each other along with the agents of the BSAA. Jill was leading the discussion.

"Getting to Simmons won't be easy. We're going to have to put him under surveillance to get an idea of his comings and goings. Then we're gonna have to determine when and where he'll be most vulnerable."

Everyone was listening closely, each determined to use what they knew to put an end to this whole ordeal. Jill sighed as she prepared for one grim reality of this situation.

"We only have one shot at this. If we make a move of Simmons and he slips away, the BSAA will be branded as criminals, maybe even terrorists. After that, Simmons will go into hiding and then we'll never find him."

"He can do that?" Bulkhead asked.

"Like Rafael said," Chris began. "Simmons is one of the richest men in this part of the world and with that kind of money, it's easy to buy the right people in with the power to label us as the bad guys. Don't forget, Derek Simmons is considered a savior of the American economy. It was his money that kept us from an economic collapse. If he's allowed to speak out against us, we become America's biggest threat. That brings us to something me and Jill had discussed earlier."

Chris looked to Jill with a apprehensive look on his face. This confused the Autobots.

"When we make our move on Simmons, you guys have to sit that one out." Jill explained

Every Autobot, safe for Optimus, gave Jill a look of protest.

"You want us to stay curbside while you go after the guy who funds Umbrella?" Arcee asked with a tone of clear disapproval.

"I thought you said that you didn't want this guy to get away." Bulkhead protested. "If we're there, we can make sure he won't."

"I don't doubt that, Bulkhead, but we can't afford to expose you to him." Jill rationalized.

 **"We don't care about being exposed. You guys already know about us."** Bumblebee replied which was not understood by any of the humans.

"'Bee says that Simmons knowing about us isn't something we're worried about." Arcee translated.

"You should be worried." Barry joined in. "If only for the sake of your man, Fowler."

"Agent Burton is right, Arcee." Optimus finally spoke. "If we reveal our existence to Derek Simmons, he will learn of Fowler's involvement with us. We cannot forget that he is not protected from Umbrella while he investigates them on our behalf."

The Autobots argued no further, seeing the logic in Optimus' argument. If Simmons escaped, it would be Fowler who would pay the price. Plus, that would lead to Umbrella knowing where the Autotbot's were, where Jack was.

"We will be the one's who go after Simmons." Jill continued. "We have to take'em alive if we wanna know where Oswell Spencer is hiding himself."

"And then what?" Bulkhead asked.

"Then we get rid of Simmons and go after Spencer." Chris answered.

"Will his sudden disappearance arouse suspicion from the general public?" Optimus asked.

"We thought about that too." Jill started. "Once we have him secure, we're gonna search every piece of property he has until we have proof of his involvement with Umbrella. We'll question him and find out who else they own. Once Spencer and Wesker have been taken care of, we'll expose the truth to everyone and Umbrella won't have any protection. When the public learns that their great savior was involved with the people that destroyed Raccoon City, they'll just assume he went on the run, or was dealt with by Umbrella."

"And then no one's gonna stop us when we start hunting them down." Chris added.

"And what about Spencer?" Arcee asked.

"When we go after Spencer, we _will_ need your help." Chris answered. "Wherever he is right now, you can be certain he has the worst of the worst of Umbrella's B.O.W.s locked away. Once we close in on him, he will set them free. We won't be able to get close to him without your help."

"And once that's done, Umbrella will begin to fall apart." Arcee concluded.

"Exactly." Jill confirmed.

"But even with them taken care of, Jack and his mom are not gonna be safe until we deal with Wesker." Arcee followed up."

Jill sighed, frustrated that the biggest threat that they face was still not accounted for.

"Hopefully...we'll know where to find him once we have Simmons. Until then, all we can do is wait."

Arcee wasn't happy about that, the focus not being on the person who was after Jack. But there was nothing to to be done. For now, all they could do was bide their time. It was going to be a pain to wait to move on Derek Simmons. But Jill was right, they only had one shot him. They couldn't afford to waste it.

The door had opened up and Ratchet had entered the room.

"Optimus, you need to take a look at this." He said.

Ratchet led the Autobots back to the main hall with the BSAA behind them. Optimus took a look on the monitor and saw what Ratchet wanted to show them.

"Energon readings." He said.

"A big one from the looks of it." Arcee added.

Ratchet input a few more commands to get a more detailed analysis of what they were looking at.

"It's located in the north-central area of Ellesmere Island in Canada." Ratchet explained.

This confused Optimus.

"That area has never been rich with energon." He expressed his concern.

"My thoughts exactly. I find it hard to believe that the Decepticons wouldn't have located it already if it was." Ratchet followed up.

"Hm...this may very well be a trap set by Megatron." Optimus concluded.

"Or M.E.C.H." Bulkhead added.

"We shouldn't take the bait." Arcee said. "If either of them are out there, we should let them wait in the cold until they decide to go home. Better yet, we go out there a launch a counter attack."

"Megatron would never risk the loss of such a large amount of energon. The Nemesis warship requires a constant supply to maintain it's flight. It stands to reason that this is indeed a trap orchestrated by ME.C.H. to draw either of us out."

"I say we let the 'Cons go for the bait and let them deal with M.E.C.H." Bulkhead said.

"That would not be wise, Bulkhead." Optimus replied. "If the Decepticons do respond to it, M.E.C.H. may very well capture one of them as they did with Breakdown. We cannot risk the possibility of Silas replicating Cybertronian technology. M.E.C.H. is still a threat to mankind that must also be dealt with."

The Autobots nodded in agreement.

"Ratchet, set coordinates in close proximity to where the energon in located. We will investigate before we take action." Optimus order.

"Yes, Optimus."

Ratchet activated the ground and the Autobot's gathered together to take their alts.

"Do you need any back up, Optimus?" Chris asked.

"None at the moment, Agent Redfield. It is best that M.E.C.H. is not aware of your involvement with us. Though, I appreciate your concern."

"In that case, go get'em big guy." Chris responded with a smirk.

Optimus smiled back in response. Jack walked up the railing, getting his attention.

"Be careful, Optimus."

Optimus glanced at Jackson and responded with a nod of appreciation.

"I will, Jackson. Do not worry."

He turned his attention back to the ground bridge.

"Autobots, Transform And Roll Out!"

The Autobots did just that and the ground bridge closed behind them.

"I love it when he says that." Jill said to no one in particular.

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Energon, it's what the Cybertronians used to sustain themselves. It was their food, their fuel, their life force. How it ended up on Earth was a mystery to Wesker, but he was able to find a use for it. Now that he was collecting so much of it, his plan was to leave it out in the open and wait for the Autobots to come. It left him with no doubt that they would see this for the obvious trap that it was. But the goal was simply to bring them to him. His only concern was that it would draw out the Decepticons, who were of no use to him. It was the Autobots he was after. They were the ones who were protecting the boy.

There were still more shipments being brought in. By now, Wesker was confident that he had collected enough to get the Autobot's attention. Now all he had to do was wait. Albert Wesker was nothing if not a man of patience. He had to be when he was forced to spend all those years as Captain of S.T.A.R.S.

"Status report on the Greenland shipment." Wesker commanded into his comm link.

He was referring to a moderate supply of energon that was located in Greenland and was en route to the target area. It had made it into the island but the transport began to malfunction and was forced to make an emergency landing. Wesker had sent a convoy to move the energon the rest of the way.

 _"We're about an hour or so away, Captain. It won't be longer than that."_

"Just make sure the shipment makes it to the location intact. This is hardly an area to be driving in."

 _"No worries, Captain. The shipment will make it in one piece."_

"See that it does."

Wesker ended communications and continued to wait for any signs of the Autobots. He had several men staking out the location for when either faction would arrive. But in the pit of his stomach, he felt that something was wrong.

"This is Wesker to drop off. What's your status?" He spoke into his comm link again.

 _"Quiet, Sir."_ The voice of another man replied. _"No signs of'em."_

"Dammit." He said to himself. "Keep your eyes open."

 _"Sir."_

Wesker knew that something was amiss. Unable to wait any longer, Wesker grabbed his coat and began towards the door.

"Sir, is something wrong?" Russell asked as he followed.

"Yes and I don't know what it is. We're going to the drop area to make sure everything is in order." He turned to the other men watching him. "The rest of you, stay here and stay alert."

Wesker left the makeshift office he was in along with Russell. The two entered a black armored SUV and drove away from the base. Wesker checked his weapon to assure that it was loaded and prepared himself for whatever was waiting for him. After a bit of a drive, the two came to the "drop zone" where the energon was being stored. The area was a bit narrow, with large rocky structures forming a wall around an open area. In the center were several storage containers were line up in rows. On top of the cliffs of the structures, there were several more containers. This was the bait, the cheese for the Autobot pests who were keeping the boy out of Wesker's reach. The SUV had parked just outside of the opening into the narrows. Both Wesker and Russell waited patiently.

"Status report on the shipment." Wesker commanded into his comm link.

 _"Arriving shortly, sir."_

Something wasn't right, he could feel it. Russell could feel it too, as he saw his right hand man looking at him through the rear view mirror.

"Captain?" He asked in anticipation.

"You still have the LMG in the back, correct?"

Russell said nothing, recognizing that the question was actually a command. The quickest of nods was followed by Russell leaving the vehicle and going around the back. The back door opened and Wesker heard the sounds of Russell unpacking and assembling a rather large weapon.

 _"Sir, I can see the convoy."_ Wesker was informed from one of his spotters.

He looked over his seat and saw Russell holding an FN-Minimi and awaiting further instructions.

"Hold your positions and wait for my command."

Russell was given a hand gesture which meant for him to stay out of sight for the time being. The back door was shut and Wesker assumed that Russell was making himself unnoticeable behind the vehicle. Meanwhile, he waited for the convoy to come into view from the inside of the tinted SUV. Moments later, four container trucks pulled up with several Humvee's escorting them. Wesker was unable to see inside as they came to a stop. One agent stepped out of the entrance to meet with the driver of the truck in the front. He approached the cabin on the drivers side and opened the door. From where he was parked, Wesker could not see the agent falter for a moment, but he did hear the gunshot that killed him instantly. A second shot was heard and Wesker knew that his men, including Russell, were about to retaliate.

"Everyone, hold your fire...Let's see who these people are first." He ordered.

The occupants of the vehicles began to come out and Wesker figured out who they were when he saw the color green. M.E.C.H. agents, they had hijacked the convoy and forced the front driver to lead them to their stockpile. From the passenger side, Wesker saw a familiar, but unwelcome, face exit the vehicle.

"Leland, you fool. What do you think you're doing?" He said to himself.

 _"Orders, sir?"_ Russell asked from his comm link.

"Wait for my signal."

 _"Yes, Sir."_

Silas took notice of the SUV and signaled for it's occupant to come out. Wesker sighed in annoyance.

'You're getting in my way, Leland. That's going to cost you dearly.'

Wesker exited the vehicle to the apparent surprise of Silas.

"Wesker, so it _was_ you behind all this."

"What are you doing here, Bishop?"

Wesker was in no mood to entertain Silas.

"I should be asking you that, Albert. I should also be asking why you sent your spy for hire into one of my bases."

Wesker didn't reply. Silas began walking towards him.

"You've been collecting energon, it seems. I guess you must've learned all about it from the data Ada Wong stole from us. That means you know about the Transformers. That's what all this energon is for. You've got something in store for them, don't you?"

"If you're smart, you will walk away from this, Bishop."

"Wrong, it'd be foolish to turn a blind eye to whatever it is you're doing here, Wesker. Not quite as foolish as failing to account for us detecting this energon stockpile..."

Silas looked as if he had just realized something.

"Bait...this is bait, isn't it?"

"It's none of you're concern, is what it is."

"Wrong once again, Wesker."

Now Silas was face to face with Albert Wesker.

"The Transformers are mine. Be they Autobot or Decepticon, M.E.C.H. has plans for these mechanical beings. What I want to know is what's your interests in them?"

Wesker was mentally counting the number of men that Silas had with him, forty or more by what he could see.

"When I extended my hand to you in past, you turned away. You told me that you had no interest in our 'little toy arms race' as you put it. So tell me, what's changed? Was it the knowledge of these beings living on Earth? Or have you hit a dead end in whatever it was Umbrella was doing?"

Wesker was growing tired of listening to Silas go on. If he only knew what Umbrella did.

"We'll get to the bottom of this soon enough, old friend. But first, let's get a good look at the energon you've collected for us."

Silas went behind Wesker and pushed him to make him move forward. Wesker, however, did not move an inch. Silas was confused as to how he was unable to move him despite being much less muscular. Wesker found amusement in that, but decided to move along. The pair, along with the other M.E.C.H. agents, walked up to one of the many storage containers in the center of the structures. Silas took a look around at the other containers place upon the cliffs with the opening facing outward.

"Why do you have containers placed up there?" He asked with authority.

"We were running out of room down here." Wesker relied as he unlocked on the containers.

The container was opened and Silas saw that it was almost filled to the top with energon crystals. Wesker didn't have to see him to know of his pleased expression.

"I must give credit where it's due, Wesker. That's an awful lot of energon you've collected in the short time you've known about it. Definitely enough to get the attention of the Transformers."

Silas shut the doors of the container.

"M.E.C.H. gratefully accepts your contributions to the cause."

Silas then turned back to Wesker, who was stuck between him and his men.

"But I still want to know what you intended to do with it."

Silas stood before Wesker, but the Captain was less then intimidated by him despite the difference in height.

"You can tell us here and now or chained to wall in a dark room, I don't care which. What were planning, Wesker?"

Wesker remained silent. He brought his hand to his ear and spoke to his men.

"Would you kindly kill these fools."

Without warning, a quiet bullet pierced through to one of the agent's head, followed by another...and another.

"Snipers!" One agent cried before being hit with a bullet himself.

Silas was now enraged by what was happening and went to take hold of Wesker.

"Russell, if you please." He said to his second.

Russell had come from around the corner and began opening fire with his light machine gun. Silas turned his attention to his men who were being cut down by Wesker's guy or shot down from one of his snipers. His numbers were dwindling fast. He looked back at Wesker and went to draw his weapon. He raised his gun, only for Wesker grab him wrist and point the gun away from him. Silas was unable to break free of his inexplicably powerful grip. Wesker stared at the angry Silas through his sunglasses.

"The truth is, Leland, I have no real interest in these Transformers."

Silas was now confused.

"It's someone they're protecting that I'm after."

That was something that Silas understood. Wesker was after one of their human allies. But which one? Grabbing him from his belt, Wesker throw Silas back to his men a greater distance than one would think was possible for one man to throw another. Silas stood up with his weapon as a few soldiers stood by his side with theirs. Wesker was staring intently, as if daring them to retaliate. The M.E.C.H. leader was all to happy to oblige. Silas raised his weapon and opened fire on Wesker. To his complete shock, Wesker disappeared from the bullets path and ended up a mere foot or two to the side in a stance that made it seem like he was dodging something. A second of awe was all Silas was willing to give him and began firing on Wesker along with his men. Just as before, Wesker kept vanishing from the paths of the bullets and appearing elsewhere. It was if he was phasing out of existence before returning in another spot in an instant. Neither Silas nor his men could land a single shot on him and he was getting closer with each vanishing act. He was just of out arms length when Wesker jumped into a spinning kick, driving his boot into Silas' torso with enough force the knock him back behind his men. Before another shot could be let off, Wesker grabbed at the closest rifle aimed at his head. He twisted it to the side, breaking the shooter's trigger finger with it. Putting his back to the shooter, Wesker elbowed him in the guy hard enough that he knew the agent was bleeding internally. He disappeared and reappeared behind him fast enough to use him as a shield when another agent fired a five round burst from his weapon into his chest. The bullets had penetrated his armor, but Wesker was unharmed. He kicked his human shield into the second shooter, forcing his to push the dead soldier out of the way. In that time, Wesker moved with his blinding speed leap over him and wrap his arm around his neck. With a hard jerk to the side, the second shooter fell to the floor with his head twisted to an awkward angle. Wesker then kicked the third shooter next to him into the fourth on his other side. As they were recovering, the three across from him began firing at Wesker and failing miserably. Wesker somersaulted backwards to avoid the oncoming rifle fire and landed a good fifteen feet away from them. As quick as any fictional western hero, Wesker drew his pistol, fire one shot into each of the three shooters. Two of the shooter's armor were penetrated and they went down, though they were not killed. The one in the middle was winded from the impact to his chest, but still standing. Wesker ran for him at top speed, while he just stood where he was. Before Wesker could get his hands on him, he was stopped when a bullet whizzed by inches from his face. Silas was on his feet now and aiming a rifle at Wesker. The other two soldiers that were knocked into each other stood on either side of him. As they opened fire, Wesker somersaulted to the side and out of their line of fire. The bullets were only able to shoot through the end of his long coat. He landed on his feet and continued to phase backwards until he was in front of the container filled with the energon crystals. Wesker was able to open it quickly and Silas gave the signal to hold fire as to not cause a reaction from the energon. As they moved closer to Wesker with their weapons still on him, he reached behind him and into the container. He pulled out a large energon crystal with one hand and with not effort at all, threw the energon with the force of a fast moving vehicle. Silas was quick enough to move out of the way, the soldier behind him was not so lucky. The crystal broke into many shards, that were still bigger than a fist, and knocked the man flat on his back. Had the impact not killed him instantly, the burns from contact with energon would have most certainly done so, though much slower and more painfully. Wesker ran in between the other two, grabbing the end of one of their rifles and causing him to shoot down the other. Once that was done, Wesker elbowed the man in his chin, shattering his jaw. While he was stunned from the blow, Wesker grabbed hold of his shoulder and brought his own right hand beside his chest. He straightened it with all his fingers together and extended. With inhuman strength, he drove his hand straight into the soldiers chest and out of his back. The soldier gasped for air before a gob of blood began pouring from his mouth. He looked up that blonde man wearing sunglasses as he choked on his own blood. Before he could go limp, Wesker harshly removed his hand from his body, leaving him to fall the floor lifeless. Wesker's arm was now caked in blood. He suddenly heard the sound of a hammer pulling back and saw Silas standing across from him with another pistol. He didn't show it, but he wanted to laugh at how desperate the terrorist leader had become in contrast to his earlier cockiness. Wesker ran for Silas who only managed to fire off one round that did not hit it's mark. With his left hand, Wesker grabbed the pistol in Silas' hand and pulled him closer. With his open palmed right, he hit Silas in the chest, cracking a few ribs in the process. Silas struggled to keep his breathing, which was now a painful process, in check. Removing the pistol from his loosened grip, Wesker punched Silas in the face hard enough to send his head right into the container next to him, leaving a large dent in the door. Silas fell to the floor with blood leaking from the side of his head. His ears were now ringing and he was horribly concussed. If he were to lose consciousness now, he would not be waking up. To both his and Wesker's surprise, he managed to bring himself to his feet. With as much strength as he could manage, he attempted to punch Wesker. He caught Silas' fist in his hand and began squeezing it with the force of an iron vice. Silas threw his head back and began roaring from the pain of having his hand crushed. In a desperate move, Silas launched head forward and into Wesker's face with all his might. That turned out to be a bad move with his head injury. Wesker, on the other hand, was unfazed. The only damage done was to his sunglasses, which fell to the floor in pieces. Wesker let go of Silas' hand, allowing him to fall to his knees. The weakened and disoriented soldier looked up at his attacker and saw the true face of his enemy. The expression on his face caused Wesker to smirk for the first time since the fight began.

It was clear to Silas now that Wesker was not human, his eyes certainly weren't. They were slit like a cat and a mix of gold and red in color. But these could've been written off as mere deformities, were it not for the fact that they were glowing brightly, giving him a very demonic appearance. Silas had believed that Wesker's strength and speed were all some kind of trick, now he knew that was not the case. Wesker had changed. Either that, or he was never human to begin with?

"What the hell happened to you? What are you?" He asked through a painful grimace.

Wesker stood tall, the smirk still on his face.

" _This_ is where the path to the new world truly lies, not in your petty technology race, not with those Transformers, but in human evolution."

"W-what?" He said weakly, the pain taking it's toll on him. "How?"

"Genetics, you simple fool. You wanted to arm yourselves better, Umbrella wanted to make us better. Well, certain people."

"Then why are you after the Transformers? What do you want with their humans?"

"All this time, you've been chasing after Optimus, Breakdown, Arcee, and any other Cybertronian you can get your hands on. And yet, you had the key to the next stage of humanity and you didn't even know it. That boy was worth more than all the energon in universe."

"Boy?...J-Jackson Darby?"

"The same."

"Why? Why do you want him? Tell Me?!"

 _"Sir, we have Transformers inbound."_ One of his spotters informed him.

"Autobot or Decepticon?"

 _"I can't confirm. We've got a red and blue rig, yellow and black muscle car, green SUV, and a blue and pink motorcycle."_

"That would be our Autobots. I advise you all vacant this area as quickly as possible. You don't to be around for what happens next."

 _"Yes, Sir."_

Wesker turned his attention back to Silas.

"What do you want with Darby? Answer me, Dammit? How did you get that strength?! What did you do?!"

Wesker grabbed Silas and moved him so that they were facing the entrance to the narrow rocks. He held him at bay with his hand painfully gripping the back of his neck, keeping him from any movement. He reached into his jacket with his free hand and drew a syringe filled with a bright red substance.

"I think it's best if I showed you, Bishop." He said before slamming the needle in Silas' neck.

Within seconds, Silas fell the floor and began groaning in pain. The virus had already begun taking effect. He would change in a matter of minutes. Wesker looked on as the Autobots were getting closer. They had taken the bait, now he had to bring down the brass bar.

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The Autobots remained on their guard, keeping an optic out for any Decepticons or M.E.C.H. As they drove down the desolate landscape, they saw a rocky formation on the horizon. As they got closer, they saw a convoy of several black SUV's and four container trucks. Upon closer inspection, they saw the corpses of M.E.C.H. agents, seemingly shot in the back while attempting to run away.

"I see downed M.E.C.H. agents, Optimus." Arcee stated.

"It is as you suspected, Bulkhead." Optimus said to the Wrecker before addressing the rest of his team. "We must maintain caution from this point forward. M.E.C.H. most certainly has something in store upon our arrival. Bulkhead."

"Gotcha, Optimus."

Both Bulkhead and Optimus moved ahead and began running through the vehicles blocking their path. Arcee and Bumblebee were close behind. They came to the narrow entrance where they saw several containers scattered throughout the structure. One of the opened containers had confirmed that it was indeed energon that Ratchet had picked up. Standing in front of it was Silas, who seemed to be in pain as he writhed on the floor. Next to him, apparently waiting for the Autobots, was a blonde man in all black with the most unusual eyes. Bumblebee recognized him immediately.

"You must be the Autobots. I've learned a great deal about you from my old friend, Leland here."

Bumblebee was balling his fist as he fought the urge to run this man over for what he did to Jack. But he knew that he needed to keep his head straight.

 **"Optimus."** He said low enough that Wesker couldn't hear him. **"That's him."**

"What?" Optimus said with just enough tranquil fury in his quiet voice.

 **"That's the guy who had Jack."**

Both Arcee and Bulkhead heard Bumblebee and felt the same rage that Optimus had felt. Arcee instinctively drew her arm blades. She was moments away from lunging at this monster and cutting him to ribbons for the pain he put Jack through. Optimus had to remind himself that despite the compromise he was willing to make, he could not allow himself to act like anything less than a leader. But how he wanted to destroy this man, to erase him from existence.

"I suppose you recognize this, don't you?" Wesker calmly said.

Wesker pulled from his jacket the jar that contained Jackson's eye. That did it, none of the Autobots would let him leave here alive. They all drew their weapons, blasters on each hand. But Wesker didn't seem to care.

"I would very much like for the rest of him returned to me." he said as he placed it back into his jacket.

"You Will Not. Harm Him. Again! You will never harm _anyone_ again!" Optimus proclaimed with his rage very noticeable.

"Unfortunately, Optimus, more sacrifices are needed before I am finished."

"Oh, you're finished alright, you sick fragger!" Bulkhead yelled.

 **"I haven't forgotten you."** Bumblebee said which was understood by Wesker. **"You're gonna pay for what you did to Jack."**

"You had you're shot on the train. That chance has passed you by, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee began charging his blasters.

 **"Wanna bet, creepy?!"**

"That's my partner's eye you have." Arcee said with the same viciousness she spoke only to Airachnid. "I'm taking it back."

"To do what, remind him that he belongs to me?"

"He does not belong to you!" Arcee yelled in a way that even surprised herself.

"The eye is useless now, but the boy is not. Return him to me or I make everyone he loves suffer."

Arcee lowered her weapons and shifted back to her servos, but not in submission.

"You're never gonna get your hands on him again. You're gonna die, here and now."

Arcee then shifted both of her arm blades back out.

"The pain you caused him, I'm going to make you feel what he felt over and over and over again. And when I'm done, you'll be lucky if the others finish you quickly. But you're going to suffer the way he suffered. I swear before the Allspark..."

 **"Arcee?"** Bumblebee questioned with worry.

"I am going to send you straight to Unicron's Pit in pieces, YOU MONSTER!"

Just as her rage spilled into her words, Silas let out a blood curling scream that let everyone know the pain he was in.

"You have bigger things to be concerned with than me at the moment." Wesker said as he backed away from Silas.

Arcee's anger was taken back by the sudden cry of the M.E.C.H. leader as he continued to scream bloody murder. They could see that his body was giving off a lethal amount of heat and was causing smoke to emit from his skin. The Autobots were so caught up by his horrible screams that they hadn't noticed Wesker climb on top on the container and disappear from it.

"What the frag is going on?" Bulkhead asked.

He was answered with a final scream as Silas suddenly burst into flames. The Autobots stepped back in horror while Silas continued to scream through the pain as his flesh was burned away. His now unrecognizable form fell on all fours as the flames extinguished themselves. Silas didn't resemble the man he once was. His skin had been burned off and left his muscles exposed and charred. The man was near dead, but he was trying to crawl forward with what little strength he had. As he did, a thick black and brownish substance began seeping through his body and coating him completely. Silas attempted to reach out to the Autobots, as if pleading for help. The only sound that came from him was a distorted groan that sounded like nothing that could come from a human. The substance around him soon hardened into a chrysalis like state that was coated with some kind of sticky fluids. The Autobots could not believe their optics. What they saw was only shaped like something human, but it looked like another organism entirely. Silas' arm was still outstretched, silently begging their help. It was hard to look at, even it if was Silas. Despite what he had done to Breakdown and teaming with Airachnid to kidnap Jack's mother, he did not deserve this. No one deserved this, not Megatron, not Airachnid, nobody.

Before the Autobots could feel too bad for Silas, a crack had suddenly formed on top of hit, getting their attention with it's sound. It split open and then broke apart, revealing a fleshy cocoon that seemed to be pulsing with life. The sight of it disturbed the Autobots and filled their sparks with fear of what was inside. The cocoon burst, revealing a grotesque monster, the likes of which not seen by either Arcee, Bumblebee, or Bulkhead. It was taller than the average human, only by a little when it was hunched over. It stood on short stubby legs but it's arms were long and muscular. It's entire body resembled burnt muscle tissue. It also had a large, jagged pointed hump on it's back and shoulders, telling of it's protective outer shell. Both Bulkhead and Bumblebee knew that it was bound to give them trouble like the Tyrant they fought back in Ireland. Despite seeing the mutation as it happened, the Autobots couldn't believe that this creature was once Silas. It released a guttural roar that put them on edge.

"Autobots, we must destroy Silas at any cost!" Optimus ordered.

"That thing isn't Silas anymore, Optimus." Arcee said with the horror ever so audible in her voice.

"If it's anything like the Tyrant, then we need to kill it hard and fast, or else it might mutate into somethin' worse." Bulkhead explained.

Arcee rearmed her blasters before she noticed that Wesker was gone.

"Where'd Wesker go?!"

Wesker had made his way up high on the rocky structure, safely out of harms ways of what was to come. The B.O.W. that was used to be Silas had yet to attack the Autobots. Wesker knew that it would not be enough to take down any of them. But it had only been an addition to the plan he had already set into motion. He pulled out an electronic switch from his coat pocket and pushed a red lit button which changed it to green. The containers scattered about on the cliffs all had electronic locks on the doors with red lights indicating being locked up. With the sound of a long beep, they changed to green and the doors were thrown open. The sounds of the metal doors caught the attention of the Autobots and the looked up at the many opened containers. Several shrieking sounds came from inside and Bulkhead knew what they were in an instant.

"Oh, no." He said with fear.

"What is it, Bulkhead?" Optimus asked.

Bulkhead paused before answering.

"Hunters."

Suddenly, dozens upon dozens of Hunter Alphas came pouring out of the containers and landing on the ground. They screeched in aggression and ran about with seemingly no purpose until they set their sights on the Autobots. They slowly began stalking towards them, ignoring Silas entirely.

"Autobots, under no circumstances can we allow even a single one of these B.O.W.s to escape this area. To prevent the risk of another outbreak, they must all be exterminated and their remains completely destroyed." Optimus commanded.

As he said that, Silas ran straight for Optimus, knocking several Hunters out of it's path. The Hunters screeched as loud as they could before charging at them as well. The Autobots began opening fire on these creatures as they got closer. It was clear that they were in for another horrific battle. As the horde closed in on them, Wesker continued to watch in amusement. But he was watching very closely, keeping his eyes on Bulkhead. Once he was sure that they were too engrossed in battle, he would make his move.

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 **I am absolutely sorry that it took this long to get this chapter up. I have no excuse this time. I was dragging my feet in writing this. The first half was an absolute bore to write and I found myself procrastinating it the further I got. It wasn't until the last third that I finally was able to have some fun. I wish I could promise that this will never happen again, but I can only promise to try not too. Well, that and promise not to abandon the story.**

 **So exposition, exposition, exposition and finally some action. I had a much bigger trap set up for the Autobots. But after I thought about it, it sounded way more complicated than it needed to be.**

 **So, we finally got to see Wesker in action and up against Silas no less. Poor, poor Silas. I do feel like his fate was cruel, even for him. But what better way to drive home how evil the bad guy is by having him do something horrible to another bad guy. By the way, the B.O.W. that Silas is turned into in called a Napad. One of the more difficult things about this story is picking monsters from the games that seem like they would be an actual threat to the Autobots. Are they in for a fight next chapter.**

 **As for Arcee, I feel like I went bit overboard with the threats she was throwing at Wesker. They felt a bit over the top, but I was really trying to get across the rage she was feeling at the sight of the person who hurt Jack so badly. Let me know how you feel.**

 **So the fight goes down next chapter. And please don't think that I won't utilize some of the newer characters that were introduced later on. I just want to set up the appropriate situations for them to come in.**

 **One last thing. I'm actually in the process of writing another TFP story. I know with my track record, taking on another story seems like a bad idea. But this story has been floating around my head for a long time now and everyday I think up and forget new ideas for what I want to do. I feel like if I don't at least get started, I'll abandon it by the time I'm finished with this one. Now, Old Nightmare is still my priority and I'm gonna try and not drag my feet like I did this chapter. The reception I get from my third story will determine how often I upload chapters for that. But like I said, this is my main story right now. I won't be taking on any stories after that until I conclude this one. I don't want to have twelve unfinished stories on my profile page. Not speaking ill of any authors who do that. But I have a thing about not finishing what I started. So just be patient with me.**

 **On a closing note, RinnaCarebim (if for some reason you're reading this) thanks for coming back. I really enjoyed reading your Peridot redemption story. And ToaXabineh (if for some reason you're reading this also) please stay with us. I really like your stories, especially Distorted Reflections. Peace, Love, Respect, and I'm out.**


	20. Chapter 20

Silas and the horde of Hunters ran straight for the Autobots. If there was any sign of him still being somewhere inside of the creature he became, it was that he seemed to set his sights on Optimus. Team Prime opened fire on the mass of green monsters, Optimus taking aim at Silas. Their energon blasts were blowing them apart, but there was just so many of them. Despite being much, much larger than scraplets, therefore easier to hit, their numbers made it as difficult to destroy as the metal eating parasites.

Optimus' attempts to fire at Silas were being affected by the horde. Even with it knocking anything in his path out of the way, every shot Optimus took was being taken by another Hunter that moved in the way of the blasts. The creature was not fast, moving on all fours when it needed to run. But before Optimus could get a proper shot at it, he felt the Hunters jumping all over the bottom halves of his legs, clawing at them mercilessly while attempting to climb higher. He armed one of his blades and began cutting away at them, but that allowed several of them to jump onto his arm and launch themselves at his upper body. Optimus managed to cover the unprotected half of his face, his lower half protected by his mask, but his chassis was exposed and he took numerous slashes which shattered his windows and tore through the metal behind them. Optimus struggled to free himself of the Hunters attempting to rip him apart, then he felt something collide with his leg. He was brought down to one knee. He looked over his shoulder and saw Silas standing behind his pede. Optimus stood up and raised his leg above the monster. He let it fall on top of him, feeling his jagged shell crush beneath he pede. When he looked at what he'd done, he saw the creature with a good portion of his shell broken away, exposing his fleshy weak points. Optimus took aim at the Silas who was still trying to stand up, but several more hunters made there way onto his back and brought him to his knees.

From the top of the rocks, Wesker was observing the whole thing. He was hoping that the Napad would go for the green Autobot instead of Optimus, but some of Silas' memories must've carried over to his mutation that he recognized him. At the very least, he was holding his attention. But he knew it wouldn't keep it up once he saw the leader expose it's weak flesh. The Hunters were giving the rest of them a run for their money, but Wesker was certain that Optimus would be able to take control of the situation. He would definitely be the one to spot Wesker making his move on the Autobot known as Bulkhead. He needed to improvise. Wesker looked over again and saw that the two M.E.C.H. agents who were taken down but not killed were playing possum as the Hunters stepped over them, too preoccupied with engaging the Autobots to notice them. This gave him an idea.

Wesker pulled out his combat knife and stuck it into the ground. He then stripped his pistol and pulled out the gun spring. He straightened it and stuck it next to the knife. He checked the interior of his coat and skimmed through the handful of C-Virus samples he kept with him. He grabbed two of the "Strelat" strains, opened them, and coated the blade of his knife as well as the gun spring with it. He went back over the edge where the two soldiers were still playing dead. He took aim at one with the spring and threw to right into his leg. He did the same with his knife. The virus seeped into their open wounds and he knew it wouldn't be long before it took effect. He then went back to watching the battle unfold.

Silas' shell had already begun to heal and he still had his sights set on Optimus, who was still cutting and blasting away at the Hunters. As he ran for the Prime, he was run into by Arcee in her alt form. The femme transformed and kicked the Napad into a wall. The size difference between the two was much less than the Lickers in Tokyo and this creature was so much tougher. Arcee was also trying to take out the Hunters as well. Despite this, she blasted away at it, chipping off pieces of it's shell. Before she could land a shot on it's exposed areas, it rammed it's body into her and smacked her into a group of Hunters that went in for the attack. Arcee armed her blades and tried to fight her way out. She felt the little beast's claws tearing all over her, giving it back as much as she could. When she finally broke free, her frame torn even worse than when she came back from Tokyo. Even her face had not remained unscathed, now sporting a row of energon leaking claw marks. She shifted her blasters and unloaded on the Hunters who she hadn't cut her way through. When it was done, she had bought herself some reprieve as none of the other Hunters were on her at the moment. That was short lived however, when Silas tackled her from behind and brought her to the ground. He had her pinned down and began smashing his stone like fist into her back like an angry primate. Arcee grunted through the pain as she tried and failed lift herself up.

Bumblebee ran through the Hunters and to Arcee. He reached her and Silas, smacking the latter away. He pulled Arcee up to a sitting position and they both let out what they had against the mutated leader. When the smoke cleared, Silas sat hunched over, as if trying to protect himself. He was moving, seemingly not breathing. It looked like he was dead.

"Thanks, Bee." Arcee said.

 **"I gotcha covered, Arcee."** He replied

Suddenly, two human screams stole the attention of all the Autobots. They looked over and saw two M.E.C.H. agents writhing in agony just as Silas was moments ago. Just like before, they both burst into flames and hardened into a chrysalid cocoon as Silas did. Arcee and Bumblebee went to blast the shells before they could hatch, but then Silas roared behind them and underwent a change of his own.

Wesker took notice to the sudden change in the Napad. As it turned out, it's exterior had hardened considerably and became another shell. When it burst opened, a much larger and more armored Napad rose from it. This was was somewhere in between the size of Arcee and Bumblebee.

"That's never happened before." Wesker said to himself.

Arcee and Bumblebee went on the attack, but Silas rushed them must faster than he did before. He knocked them both over, causing them to be overtaken by the Hunters. Silas still had his sights set on Optimus and jumped up to smash him in the chassis. Optimus fired upon Silas, shooting away at his armor. But every jagged edge grew back as quickly as it was destroyed. Optimus then ran to him and began knock him around with his fist. Silas didn't seem affected by it. Optimus stopped and kept his optics on the B.O.W.

"Wesker...you monster." With that he rushed into Silas again.

While this was still going on, the two chrysalids were beginning to hatch. When they burst open, out came two more of a different B.O.W. type. These were smaller than the one Silas became, but no less dangerous. They looked like deformed, over sized iguanas with spike appendages protruding from their tails and necks. Both of them took notice of the closest Autobot which was Bulkhead.

The Wrecker was blasting and smashing away at the Hunters. His fight with the Tyrant had given him some experience in dealing with smaller, clawed creatures. But he was still struggling to keep himself from getting swarmed.

"There's no end to them!"

The two B.O.W.s went for Bulkhead who caught sight of them.

"What the...Oh great, more of them!"

Both creature expanded their fins and fired organic needles at Bulkhead. Many of them didn't penetrate his frame, but were painful nonetheless. The ones that did penetrate, even more so. They were beginning to force Bulkhead back to the rock wall where Wesker was hiding. Bulkhead shielded himself as best as he could. Suddenly, he felt something jump on his back and reach behind the plates just below his neck. Before what ever was on him could sever something important, Bulkhead slammed his back against the wall. When he turned around, there was nothing smeared across the rocks. Before confusion could set in, Bulkhead was pelted with more needles.

"Ugh...that's it!"

Covering his face, Bulkhead ran at the two creatures. He kicked one to the side and stomped down hard on the other. He felt the thing go squish beneath his pede and turned to see the other ready to lunge at him. It jumped only to be pulled back by it's tail by Bumblebee. The scout slammed the creature on the ground and pinned it down with his pede. With one hard tug, he ripped it's spike tail right off, causing it to screech in pain. He shifted both blasters and kept firing until he saw the fluids leaking to his pedes. He turned back to Bulkhead who was looking pretty exhausted.

 **"You okay, Bulk?"**

"We gotta help Optimus." Bulkhead said, looking at Optimus as he fought with Silas.

The two of them were then assaulted by another wave of Hunters.

 **"We gotta do something about these Hunters first!"**

"No kidding!"

Wesker had already done what he set out to do, but still stayed to watch the fight. It seemed that numbers were the Autobot's main weakness against these B.O.W.s. This was not efficient. He was going to have to think of another way to take them down after this. He looked over to Optimus who was still going at it with the Napad. He was holding his own against the further mutated Silas. That intrigued Wesker. Perhaps Silas would've made a fine test subject himself. Still, what's done is done. It was clear that he was going to need bigger B.O.W.s against the Autobots. But bigger meant harder to control. The solution was not going to come easy.

Optimus continued to fight Silas. His protective shell was difficult to break and it gave him enough strength to hurt the Prime. He needed to change his tactics and quickly.

 _"Hey, Bulkhead."_ A familiar voice came from the comm link.

"Jackie?" Bulkhead answered.

 _"Ratchet told me there was somethin' goin' on and sent me here to check it out. Hope I didn't miss the party."_

Arcee answered the comms next and she continued to fight Hunters.

"Wheeljack, listen to me. Get here and help Optimus."

 _"What, the 'Cons givin' him trouble?"_

"Not 'Cons, Jackie. Not this time." Bulkhead answered back.

Optimus was still fighting Silas when he saw Wheeljack's vehicle approaching. He took his alt form and ran straight into Silas. He was forcing him back on his grill and driving straight towards Wheeljack.

 _"Prime, what the frag is that you're carryin' on your grill?!"_

"Brace yourself, Wheeljack!"

The two collided with Silas in between them. The impact caused his shell to crack and break apart, exposing his flesh once more. Both of them transformed again. Optimus drew his arm blade and Wheeljack drew his swords.

"Wheeljack, strike at the exposed flesh!"

They drove their blades into Silas, causing him to roar back in pain. He backhanded Wheeljack away and went to smack Optimus. The Prime grabbed his hand and used his blade to try and chip away the shell of his face, hoping to expose a kill shot. Silas responded by headbutting Optimus in the chassis. The Prime threw him back over to the Hunters and went to fire upon him. He stopped himself when he saw how far he had thrown him. He landed too close to the energon stockpile to take a shot. Wheeljack had come up from behind him with a look of pure shock.

"Prime, what the frag is that?!"

"I will explain all to you after we have completed this mission."

"Yeah well, let me give you a hand." Wheeljack said as he raised his blaster.

Optimus stopped him from firing on the creatures that were swarming the area.

"No, Wheeljack! We cannot risk hitting the..."

Optimus stopped as an idea popped into his head.

"I know what you're thinkin', Prime." Wheeljack said with approval.

"Arcee, Bumblebee!" Optimus spoke into him comm link.

 _"Sir!"_ Arcee answered.

"Circle the perimeter of the area and drive back any B.O.W.s that have strayed from the horde."

 _"Copy that, Sir."_

Arcee and Bumblebee transformed and drove in opposite directions outside of the structure.

"Bulkhead, force the Hunters as close to the energon containers as you can, then get clear of the area."

 _"I'm on it, Optimus!"_

"Wheeljack, lay down as many explosives as possible around the area."

"What about Rocky over there?"

"I will handle Silas."

Optimus switched to his alt and drove for the structure.

"Wait, that's Silas?!" Wheeljack said with horror.

Getting over it quickly, he followed Optimus to do his part. Bulkhead was knocking back as many Hunters as he could while Wheeljack fought his way through to lay down some remote bombs. Optimus transformed and ran fist first into Silas. The smaller B.O.W. fought back viciously to take down the Prime, but Optimus gave it back as hard as he got it. He began punching at Silas, knocking him closer to the canister any way he could. Silas was hitting back, denting Optimus with each blow.

Wesker saw what Optimus was doing and decided that he was finished there.

"Smart, Optimus, very smart" He pulled out a tracker to make sure it was working. "It's time to go."

Wesker disappeared behind the rocks without anyone noticing he was there. Meanwhile, Silas had knocked Optimus down and climbed on top of him. Optimus grabbed him by what little neck he had and forced him away enough to shift his blaster and shoot him until he was able to throw him off. As Silas tried to stand up, Optimus rushed him with a fierce uppercut. He then kicked him behind where he was just on the floor. Not letting him get up this time, Optimus drove his blade behind the creature's leg where it wasn't as armored. He then picked the creature up and threw him into the energon container.

"Wheeljack, Bulkhead, pull back!"

They all transformed and drove away from the area as fast as they could.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, get yourselves clear of the area and inform me when you are of safe distance."

 _"Understood, sir."_

They drove far enough and transformed back into their bipedal forms. Optimus could see the creatures beginning to leave the area.

 _"We're clear, Optimus!"_

"Wheeljack, now!"

Wheeljack hit the switch on his detonator and set off all the bombs he laid down in and around the area. Several explosion went off simultaneously and ignited the energon. Then the whole rocky structure was swallowed up by a massive blue explosion that sent a shock wave through the immediate area and nearly knocked the Autobots over. Optimus looked on at the blue inferno and saw not a single bit of movement. It seemed that the mission was over.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, are you both alright?"

 _"We're fine, Optimus."_

"Bumblebee?"

 _ **"I'm okay."**_

"I am glad to hear that. Search the area within a five mile radius to make certain that no B.O.W.s have escaped. Destroy any you see."

 _"Yes, sir."_

"Good work, Autobots."

Optimus continued to look at the flames of the wasted energon. If it kept those horrors from reaching any humans, then the loss was worth it.

"Oh, you gotta fraggin' kiddin' me!" Bulkhead yelled.

Optimus took another look at the flames and saw Silas rapidly regenerating his armor.

"That is not possible." Optimus said with disbelief.

"What now, Prime?" Wheeljack nervously asked.

Optimus shifted his blaster.

"We take it down any way we can."

Silas began charging at them with great speed and the three Autobots opened fire on him. They were blasting his armor away and even shooting at his exposed flesh, but Silas was not slowing down. Optimus shifted his other blaster and doubled his blasts, but it did nothing. He then focused his aim, going for one specific spot. He fired one shot and hit Silas in his armored face. It chipped away a small piece of his armor. He fired again and chipped away another piece. He fired again and broke off a slightly bigger piece. He fired again, and again, again, and again, as Silas was getting closer and closer. Another shot and Optimus managed to expose his face. He was almost there, getting closer to the Autobots. Optimus took even more careful aim and fired again. The blast destroyed the side of Silas' face. He went limp and hit the ground hard. His body skidded to a stop right at the Autobots pedes. Optimus kept his blaster on him, prepared to shoot him again if he moved.

"Is he...dead?" Bulkhead asked.

As if to answer his question, Silas then began to dissolved into a puddle of the same substance that seeped through his charred body and encased him in the cocoon. Silas was now a puddle of brown liquid, much to their disgust. Optimus fired at the puddle until it had completely evaporated. He shifted his blaster back and let himself sigh in relief.

" _That_ was a nightmare, still not as bad as the Tyrant though." Bulkhead said.

 _"Optimus, the area is clear."_ Arcee informed though her comms.

"Excellent, return back to the entrance and we will return to base."

Wheeljack kept looking at where Silas had dissolved in front of them.

"You're tellin' me...that _thing_ was Silas?"

Neither Optimus nor Bulkhead answered him.

"Will someone tell me what's happening?!"

Optimus looked at Wheeljack.

"A new enemy has presented itself to us, Wheeljack. Umbrella, a human organization that poses a threat to mankind far worse than that of M.E.C.H., perhaps even as great of threat as the Decepticons. As you can see, the monsters they can create have to potential to destroy many lives, human and Cybertronian. They have already struck one of our own."

"Who, Miko!?" He said with anger.

"Not Miko...Jack." Bulkhead said solemnly, remembering when he first saw what they had done to the teen.

"Arcee's kid?"

Arcee and Bumblebee pulled up and transformed.

"'Cee, what happened to your partner? Is he okay?"

Arcee looked away.

"He's fine...mostly. But they..."

"That is not important at the moment, Wheeljack." Optimus jumped in. "We need your help to bring these terrorists to justice."

"I'm in, anything for my girl Miko."

There was a bit of hesitance from the Autobots.

"What is it?"

"Jackie..." Bulkhead began. "We're handlin' this a little different than we usually do with humans."

"What do you mean?"

"He means we're not taking prisoners." Arcee answered. "We intend to take the people that did this out, just like we would the Decepticons."

That shocked Wheeljack.

"Are you serious?" He said as he looked to Bulkhead.

"Yeah...And when you see what they did to Jack and hear about the other things they'd done, you'll understand why."

Wheeljack took all this in while Optimus called for a ground bridge. It appeared in front of them and they all went through, leaving the battle behind them.

A distance away, Wesker was entering the military aircraft that had brought him there, still watching the tracker. Just as he figured, the signal to the tracker he had placed beneath Bulkhead's armor had disappeared. They had most likely gone through a ground bridge and transported to a location where the signal was blocked. He chose the green Transformer because of his size. He believed that it would go unnoticed inside of Bulkhead due to his heavy plating. He would've chosen Optimus, but the Autobot leader was much more perceptive than Bulkhead and would've caught Wesker in the act, even with the distraction of the B.O.W.s. It was going to take some time to track his movements and see where they were the most frequent. The most common pattern of his travels would most certainly be where he resided and therefore, where they were keeping the boy. Phase one complete.

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The team entered through the ground bridge and the first thing Wheeljack noticed was the extra humans running around the base.

"Got a few more, did ya?" He asked.

"Wheeljack!" Miko yelled enthusiastically as she ran down the platform.

"Hey, little Wrecker!"

Miko was scooped up and tossed lightly in Wheeljack's servos. She was very happy to see him.

"Now we can throw Umbrella that Wrecker party." She said.

"You know it, kid." Wheeljack replied.

Jack and Raf had followed Miko down and saw the Autobot's injuries that she hadn't noticed yet.

"Arcee." Jack said with concern, staring at he clawed face.

"I'm fine, Jack. Don't worry about me." She said with an uneasy smile that did not go unnoticed by him.

Miko had also noticed the puncture wounds on Bulkhead and gave him a worried look.

"It's nothin', Miko. I got worse from the scraplet infestation."

That eased her worry a little, but not much. Wheeljack handed Miko off to Bulkhead when he noticed that Jack was wearing an eye patch.

"Whoa, Jack." He said which got the teen's attention. "What happened to you, kid?"

Jack looked away, rubbing the back of his head. Wheeljack began to look mad.

"Umbrella did this, didn't they?" The white and green Wrecker asked.

Jack still didn't answer, clearly uncomfortable with the question. He led Arcee to the medical bay to get her wounds looked at. As Wheeljack watched him go, he looked back at Miko, who had become sad from the interaction. Raf had followed Jack with Bumblebee behind him. It was starting to dawn on him just how bad Umbrella was.

"What happened out there?" Ratchet stepped forward with Rebecca on his shoulder.

Chris had entered the room with Barry and Jill was still on the platform. Optimus, who was sporting a few injuries and many dents began recounting the events.

"Silas is dead."

Every eye and optic that did not bear witness to the event turned to him. He could see several looks of shock on their faces.

"So it _was_ a trap." Ratchet stated.

"Indeed it was, Ratchet. Umbrella used the energon to lure us out in the open."

That fouled Ratchet's mood greatly.

"How did they learn of our need for energon?" He asked with worried anger.

"It would seem that they had forced that information from Silas."

"And what happened to him?"

Optimus did not say anything, reminded of his and Chris' mission.

"They turned him didn't they, Optimus?" Chris asked.

Optimus looked away and closed him eyes.

"I...I see." Ratchet said, clearly unsettled.

"Isn't this a good thing? Without Silas, M.E.C.H. is done for." Miko asked.

"You are correct, Miko. With Silas no longer in command, M.E.C.H. will most likely fall apart."

Miko still didn't understand.

"But?" She asked quizzically.

"Miko, what Wesker did to him, what he turned him into..." Bulkhead began. "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Miko looked over to Wheeljack, who still looked unsettled by the whole thing. If the two of them were disturbed by what they saw, then it must've been really bad.

"But why set the trap in the first place?" Ratchet asked.

"To get to Jack, Doc. What else?" Bulkhead answered which got a look from Wheeljack.

"I figured as much, but why the trap? What purpose did it serve? Did he really believe that we would bring Jack along with us?" Ratchet followed up.

Optimus thought for a moment.

"It stands to reason that Wesker was putting what he had learned from Silas to the test and wanted to see how we did against his B.O.W.s. He knows that he must get through us to get to Jackson" Optimus responded.

"And?" Ratchet asked.

"They are more dangerous then we had originally thought, as is Wesker. He has shown to be willing to risk another outbreak by releasing them in the open in order to challenge us."

The area was silent for a few moments before Wheeljack spoke up.

"And what do they want with the kid?"

Again, silence. Bulkhead stepped forward.

"Sit down, Jackie. You're not gonna like what I'm about to tell you."

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Airachnid was summoned by Megatron to meet him in the brig. What he wanted this time, she didn't know or care. Days had gone by since she had saw her Jack and she had learned nothing more about Umbrella Corporation. Megatron was not lying when he said that he would keep Airachnid on a short leash. The femme was half tempted to go search for Starscream herself and bring him to Megatron so he could get him off her back. Even that would be impossible with him being so on top of her. He made it very clear that if he had any suspicions of treachery from her, she would not live to act on it.

She made her way to the brig were Megatron was watching the monitors alongside Soundwave. She knelt before him to show the respect he demanded from her.

"How can I be of service to you, my Lord?"

Megatron did not answer so Airachnid looked up. She saw that they were watching several human news reports of current events. That was strange, Megatron never bothered to learn anything about humans unless it was about using their technology against the Autobots. She continued to observe the videos until she saw the words "Umbrella Corp" among them.

"Soundwave has been hard at work in researching this human organization on your behalf, Airachnid."

Airachnid felt nervousness creep in. This was not a good position to be in.

"Of course, he made sure to inform me of it before he would tell you anything. You can learn a thing or two from him."

No doubt he was suspicious of her and suspicion meant her demise. She heard him shift his blade and tried to think of a way to talk herself out of this situation.

"Tell me, Airachnid, why are you so interested in this 'Umbrella Corporation'?"

She looked up and see the tip of his sword right in front of her.

"And please, be honest with me."

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 **Chapter 20, I made it to Chapter 20. Back in Chapter 1, I doubted if I would even be able to keep going past a handful of chapters, but here we are.**

 **Unfortunately, I hated this chapter, mostly because of the battle. The more I wrote it out, the more I felt like it came short of the hype of the last chapter's cliffhanger. I feel like the Tokyo/Ireland base battles were written so much better. I had to take some artistic license with Silas going through a second mutation because I just couldn't picture him giving Optimus that much trouble as he was. It did kind of felt like an ass pull for me, which brings me to my next problem.**

 **I need your opinions on something. I keep feeling like the B.O.W.s wouldn't be giving the Autobots as much trouble as they are and certainly not giving that much trouble to Optimus. I don't want to keep using the whole "swarm the enemy" tactic over and over again, but I don't want to royally nerf them to make them vulnerable to the B.O.W.s. I read on the RE Wiki that the C-Virus can be customized for specific mutations. Should I have Wesker create new kinds of B.O.W.s that are as big as the Autobots and powerful enough to really be a threat to them? Let me know in the comments. Oh, and the two lizard B.O.W.s were called Strelats.**

 **Now, I don't feel this chapter is a failure. Wheeljack is joining the crew, so I got that going for me. Wesker's plan is set into motion, though I hope it didn't off as overly complicated. And Airachnid is** _ **buuusssssttteeeddd**_ **. Gotta hit the drawing board to figure out where to go to next chapter.**

 **I took some time to get this chapter up because I was also writing Chapter 2 of A Shard of Glass and I wanted to get them both up at the same time, give you guys something a little extra. And once again, my big moving day is approaching but I still don't have a date set. So if I go dark for a while, know that I'm just getting my new home set up and will get back to you as soon as I can. I'll try to keep writing while I'm doing all that.**

 **Well, in any event, I wanna thank you all for the support and comments you've given me to get this far. I really do enjoy reading what you have to say. It's because of you that I got to this point and it's because of you that I intend to see it through until the end. And so until next time, I say Viddy well, my readers. Viddy well.**


	21. Chapter 21

"L-Lord Megatron..."

Airachnid struggled to speak with Megatron's clawed servo around her neck, his sword still drawn and ready to impale her. Soundwave stood by, recording the whole thing by his master's command. Megatron wanted to his soldiers to see what happens when someone goes behind his back.

"P-please, allow me to explain."

"I haven't run you through you yet, have I? Talk, Airachnid, while you still have a chance."

Airachnid was going to tell Megatron what he needed to know, but she wasn't going to beg for her life. She was not Starscream, after all.

"My Lord, U-Umbrella Corp..."

"Yes?"

"Is connected..."

Megatron tightened his grip.

"To the Autobots."

Megatron released his grip and let her fall to the ground. She stood up and rubbed her throat, trying to get the static out. She suddenly felt Megatron's sharp blade against her neck.

"Go on."

Airachnid look up at the smirking warlord. Is was as if he wanted her to lie to him. Perhaps this was the aggression from Starscream's betrayal being redirected at her. Somehow, she became _his_ lightning rod. The seeker was going to pay dearly if she ever found him.

"Arcee's pet human told me about them. For whatever reason, the Autobots have made an enemy of them."

"A human organization, enemy to Optimus? I find that highly unlikely."

Soundwave responded by replaying a clip of Breakdown explaining his dissection at the hands of M.E.C.H. Megatron seemed to agree with the point Soundwave was making.

"Yes, they _would not_ be the first humans to make an attempt on the Autobots."

He looked back to Airachnid.

"What is it that Umbrella is after?"

"I do not know, Lord Megatron."

Megatron didn't take his optics off of her, nor his blade.

"And yet, you saw fit to investigate them without informing me first."

"My Lord, I merely wanted to gather information before I brought this matter to you. I know very little about these humans and did not wish to waste your time, especially after Starscream abandoned us. Surely, you don't believe that I would think that Soundwave would not inform you of what I asked of him?"

Megatron held his gaze for a moment, keeping his sword at Airachnid's throat. He pulled it away and retracted it, allowing her to stand up.

"Is there anything else you wish to tell me, Airachnid?"

"No, Lord Megatron. As I've said, I know very little about Umbrella."

As risky as it was, she wasn't going to tell Megatron about Jack. If he thought that Umbrella was interested in him, he would take an interest himself and go after Jack. It was bad enough that someone else had gotten their hands on her prey. Megatron would only complicate things even further.

"Very well, I will overlook this failure to communicate...for now. But you will tell me any and _everything you learn from this moment forward_. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course, my Lord."

Megatron and Soundwave turned back to the monitors to continue what they were doing.

"Since you wished to know more about these humans, Soundwave had been researching Umbrella since he informed me of the matter. I must say, Airachnid, I cannot see any reason why the Autobots would waste their efforts on them."

"My Jack is no liar, Lord Megatron. He was also quite wary when he spoke of them."

Megatron seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"According to this information, they were once one of the biggest corporations on this planet until a scandal involving 'illegal experiments' caused them to fall. Typical human hierarchy, to build an empire on one's wealth instead of one's strength."

"Hmph. What strength, my Lord?" Airachnid joked.

"Yet another reason why these humans deserve to be conquered. There is more to this Umbrella then we are currently seeing. I am curious about these 'experiments' that they speak of."

Megatron turned to his Spymaster.

"Soundwave, continue to look into this organization. Find anything that would put them on the Optimus' radar."

Soundwave nodded. Megatron looked back at Airachnid.

"I'm not foolish enough to believe that you have told me everything. Be warned, _Second In Command_ , I am _still_ watching you."

Megatron left the brig and went back to his quarters. Airachnid had to be careful. She had some wiggle room, but not much. Perhaps Megatron didn't believe that she was conspiring against him, which was why he pressed no further. But if he found that she knew of their possible interest in her Jack, he might not be so understanding. Things were going to get tricky from here on in.

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Wheeljack was mostly quiet as Bulkhead finished bringing him up to speed about everything that's happened. The whole time, he kept finding himself looking at Miko who was standing by another human female named Jill. Neither Jack, Raf, or the kid's mom had come around, probably because they didn't want to go through this again. By the time Bulkhead was done, Wheeljack felt sick.

"Jackie?"

Wheeljack turned to Bulkhead.

"You okay?"

Wheeljack was slow to answer, choosing to keep looking at Bulkhead instead.

"So..."

He pulled out one of his swords and started tapping the blade on the ground. He turned his sights forward, staring off at nothing in particular.

"Where is this Wesker guy?"

Optimus stepped forward.

"Unfortunately, this has been the first time any of us have seen him since he has come after Jackson, with the exception of Bumblebee."

"You mean he was there?" Wheeljack said as he looked at Optimus.

"Yes...But he somehow managed to slip away during the chaos."

Wheeljack was thoughtful, still tapping his sword on the ground.

"And he's after Jack because of his blood?"

"Correct, he believes that Jackson holds rare properties within his DNA. He will stop at nothing to capture him again."

"So _he_ was the one that...took the kid's eye out."

Optimus looked grim, as did Bulkhead. Wheeljack looked at Miko again, who was had her back turned and her head low. Jill put her arm around her.

"Yes, he was." Optimus responded darkly.

Wheeljack slammed his sword into the ground hard enough to stick the blade in.

"And _you're_ sayin'...you ain't gonna follow the rules on this one. You're gonna find this guy...and you're gonna kill'em."

Optimus tensed up, looking around to make sure that Jack wasn't there to hear what they were talking about. Arcee was still in the med bay, Jack had gone back to his quarters.

"Yes, Wheeljack. We will kill Albert Wesker...and everyone else in Umbrella."

Wheeljack put his head down, gripping the handle of his sword tightly.

"Good."

He pulled the blade out and stood up, sheathing his sword.

"I'm in."

Bulkhead stood up, Miko turned around, and Chris walked up to Wheeljack.

"Sure you wanna take part in this, Wheeljack?" Chris asked.

Wheeljack took a look at Bulkhead who nodded in response. He returned it and looked back to Chris.

"See that girl up there." He said as he pointed to Miko. "That's my buddy and an honorary Wrecker. Fraggin' right I'd kill for her."

Wheeljack walked over to the med bay where Arcee was down for recharge.

"The Decepticon's tore our planet apart and took out a lot of my friends. Some went worse than others."

He turned back to Chris and Optimus.

"You say this guy creates monsters, destroyed a whole city, and he tortured Jack. Sounds like a 'Con to me. And I already know how to deal with 'Cons. So yeah, I'll do it. I'll step on anyone working for Umbrella if that get's us to Wesker.

The rest of them looked on, seeing the anger on Wheeljack's face. This all felt very "Un-Prime like" to Optimus, but it was necessary.

"Very well, Wheeljack. Just know that what we faced today was not the extent of Umbrella's horrors."

"I honestly don't care, Prime. If we don't do somethin' about them, it can only get worse."

"Indeed, it can. Bulkhead, show Wheeljack to his quarters. We will discuss this matter further at a later time."

"I'm on it, Optimus. Miko, I'll take you home when I get back."

"Later, Wheeljack." Miko said.

"See ya around, kid."

Wheeljack looked over his shoulder to look at her once more before he left. As the two of them went further down the corridor, they started to talk.

"Hey, Bulk?"

"What's up, Jackie?"

"You're keepin' a close optic on Miko, right?"

Bulkhead thought for a moment.

"Course I am, Wheeljack. I ain't lettin' what happened to Jack happen to her."

"And what about the scout's kid. He safe too?"

"Wheeljack, we're doin' everything we can to protect them. Jack and his mom are even stayin' here until we get Wesker."

Wheeljack paused for a moment.

"And how are they, the kid and his mom?"

Bulkhead stopped.

"Jack is...tougher than I use to think he was, but he's still just a kid. He's scared. He's tryin' not to let us see it, but we do. After what they did to'em, I'm surprised he hasn't lost it yet."

Wheeljack thought about Jack.

"Human's feel pain worse than we do, don't they?"

Bulkhead sighed.

"Yeah."

"That means that when they did that..."

"It musta' hurt somethin' fierce, I know. Like I said, he's tougher than he looks, but he's messed up. He's really messed up, thanks to Umbrella. June ain't doin' so good either. Who wants to see that happen to their kid? Poor femme wouldn't leave Jack's side until he woke up."

Bulkhead stared at the ground, thinking about how much June cried when they returned from the Umbrella facility with Jack.

"And Arcee?"

Bulkhead got darker.

"I think she wants him dead more than she wants to offline Airachnid. That should tell you everything you need to know."

"Yeah...it does. So what's out next move, Bulk?"

The two continued walking.

"We follow Optimus' lead, just like we always do."

"And what about him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't he seem a bit...different to you?"

Another pause.

"Yeah...Jack losing his eye got to him too. I'm worried about him."

They got to an empty room safe for a berth.

"But he still needs our help. He can't go up against Umbrella alone. We're gonna get them, Wheeljack, for him, Jack, Miko, for humans."

Bulkhead held his servo up with Wheeljack took it firmly.

"And we do it Wrecker's style." Bulkhead said.

"They won't know what hit'em." Wheeljack responded.

The two let go and went their separate ways. Wheeljack began setting up his quarters while Bulkhead headed back to Miko to take her home.

Back in the main hall, Optimus was speaking with Chris as Ratchet tended to his injuries.

"Have you learned anything new about Jackson's blood?" Optimus asked.

"I'm heading there tomorrow with Rebecca. Hopefully, they'll have some answers. Jill and Barry and gonna start tracking Simmons soon. Once we know where we can get him unprotected, we'll make our move. After that, we can start really goin' after Umbrella."

"The sooner the better." Ratchet said. "By the way, me and Rebecca are close to cracking the formula to the T-Vaccine. Once we have it completed, you can take it to your people and test it on Jack's blood. With a little trial and error, maybe we can create some kind of Anti-Virus."

"We can only hope, Doc."

Bulkhead entered the room and met Miko by the stairway. He transformed and let Miko enter his alt mode. He drove out through the tunnel and disappeared for the night.

"I know it's movin' kinda slow guys. It may take a while to get there, but we'll get there." Chris said before he left for his quarters

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The G-Virus had successfully spread throughout Joshua Darby's body. His mutation was kept in check thanks to cryostasis. Should he be released from his chamber, the change would be immediate. Wesker decided to keep him on ice until the time when he needed him came. There was still one remaining problem, controlling the beast.

When the boy is found, Wesker had no intentions of letting him slip through his fingers. But victory favors the prepared and Wesker wasn't going to put all his chips on this one move. If Jackson did manage to escape, he would have to retrieve the father which could prove to be difficult. The G-mutations were easier to kill than subdue without terminating them and this one was far too valuable to lose until it implanted the embryo in the boy. It was because of this that Wesker was currently researching the Plagas Parasite to control the G-mutation. He was unsure of how the parasite would take hold of the creature or how the dominant strain would affect the host controlling it. He was uncertain of how it would interact with his own unique gift. Even with the sample he had gotten from Ada, there was still too many factors he couldn't account for.

He was interrupted by a beeping sound coming from his work station. It was the tracker he placed in the green transformer. He was on the move. Wesker checked the coordinates and input them into his computer. He expected it to be one of many locations he would make note of, waiting to see which was the location he would travel to the most. The location was the last place he suspected.

"Jasper, Nevada?"

The boy's hometown, his little hideout...that couldn't be a coincidence. The moving signal came to a stop and remained still. Wesker entered the new coordinates and saw that it was station on the curbside of a residential neighborhood. This intrigued Wesker.

"Russell, come here quickly." He called through his comm link.

Russell quickly entered his office.

"Yes, Captain Wesker?"

"Do we still have operatives in Jasper?"

"Yes, Sir. Though it's as you suspected. Neither Jackson or June Darby have returned. They're on the run, Sir, most likely with the Autobots."

"They're not running, they're hiding. Send our men images of the Autobots we've encountered so far. Tell them to be on the look out for their vehicle forms. If they spot them, I must be informed immediately."

"Understood, Sir. But do you really believe that Jackson Darby is still in Nevada?"

"At this moment, one of the Autobots is there. It could be nothing. He could be searching for us, hoping to catch us searching for the boy. But I have a hunch that the rest of them are close by. Go, get it done."

"On it, Sir."

Russell left Wesker as he continued to think over his decision about the Plagas. If Jack is indeed still in Jasper, he would have to make a choice soon. Wesker was no stranger to experiments. He himself was one, after all.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Chris and Rebecca watched as Dr. Shanti Jenkins looked through her research on Jackson's blood. The was a lot of it, to say the least. Her work station was a mess, uncharacteristic of the young hematologist...except when she was working on something major.

"Okay, where do I start?" She excitedly began. "Let's begin with the vaccine."

Both Rebecca and Chris took a seat. This sounded like good news already, which would explain Dr. Jenkin's mood.

"Alone, the vaccine is more than capable of destroying the virus. In an animal host, it takes a little longer and there is a point of no return, but it still works. On humans however, it's not strong enough, which is why Umbrella wrote it off as a failure."

All things they knew already.

"Now, let's take a look at Jackson Darby. He was bit, but the infection didn't move as fast as it should've. He was able to hold off mutation until Valentine got him the vaccine which shouldn't have worked. This tells us that he had some kind of immunity to the virus before he was given the vaccine. Now here's where things get really interesting."

Chris and Rebecca leaned closer to listen to Dr. Jenkins.

"That vaccine didn't work, but you knew that already."

They looked at each other confused.

"What it did do was alter Jackson's blood cells so that they could stabilize the virus and ultimately stop the infection."

"Wait, wait..." Rebecca started. "What do you mean, alter?"

Dr. Jenkins took a deep breath.

"Jackson's blood adapted to both the virus and the vaccine."

Chris questioned this.

"Adapted to both, how?"

"When the virus began to spread through his body, his blood cells tried to fight back and held out for as long as they could. Then the vaccine entered his system. The two met each other with his cells caught in the middle. Rather than being infected or cured by either, they underwent a change. Even though it was ineffective against the T-Virus, exposure to the vaccine caused his cells to gain their combative properties and destroy the virus themselves. The trace amounts you see in his blood are only remnants of the original strain that has been stripped of it's infectious abilities. And because of their prolonged exposure to the T-Virus without mutating, Jackson has developed a complete immunity to it."

Both Rebecca and Chris stood up when they heard this.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Chris asked.

"It does, Jackson cannot be infected by the T-Virus anymore. Whether he's bitten or it's injected in him, his D.N.A. will destroy it without any trouble. That also means that with his blood, we could create a vaccine that actually works. Given enough time and research, we might even be able to create one that can give people the same immunity he has."

Chris and Rebecca both looked at Dr. Jenkins with disbelief when they heard this. Chris held his hand over his agape mouth while Rebecca began to lightly laugh.

"So the next time Umbrella releases the T-Virus in another city..." Rebecca began.

She looked at Chris who was deep in thought with his eyes to the floor.

"We can keep it contained without having to destroy it."

He looked to Rebecca.

"This...This is a breakthrough. This could change everything."

"Hold on, Chris." Dr. Jenkins stopped him. "You're getting ahead of yourself. Jack's blood is immune to the T-Virus. The G-Virus, the C-Virus, and whatever else Umbrella's cooked up, he's still vulnerable to them."

Chris thought for a moment.

"But with his blood, you could work out a vaccine to go against those viruses, couldn't you?"

"It's a possibility, but not without samples of all of them. Remember, Umbrella has a whole library of strains they have in their arsenal."

"But it _is_ possible." Rebecca joined in. "It's just like Jill said, Jack could be our miracle cure."

She looked back to Chris was was deep in thought again, a grim expression cast on his face.

"What if he hadn't been given the vaccine?" He asked.

The doctor was confused.

"He would've turned, same as anyone else. I mean, it would've taken longer but..."

"Okay...but his blood can adapt."

"Well, yeah. It couldn't at first, but the combination of the vaccine and the virus caused it to change. One or the other, or perhaps both, woke something up in his D.N.A."

Chris nodded his head but kept it low, trying to mentally work out what it was that was bothering him. Rebecca saw him clenching and unclenching his fist to crack his knuckles. This was a sign of him being worried.

"Thank you, Doctor." He said.

"No problem, Chris."

"We're gonna head back to the Autobots. Keep workin' on Jack's blood."

"Hey, when am I gonna get to meet them?"

"Soon enough, Jenkins."

The pair left the lab and headed to the exit of the building. Rebecca could see that Chris was still unnerved.

"Chris?"

He looked at Rebecca.

"What's wrong?"

Chris closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"If Wesker got his hands on the kid, what could _he_ do with his blood?"

The thought brought a frightened expression to the Rebecca's face.

"I...I don't know...I don't want to know to be honest."

"Yeah...Well, I can think of a few things."

As they called for a bridge and waited for one to appear, Chris remained dark. This should've been a ray of hope, a bit of light to guide them through this nightmare. But Wesker was casting such a dark shadow that neither Chris or Rebecca could enjoy it. If Jack really is the catalyst for a cure, all the more reason for Wesker to come after him.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack was sitting at the bottom of the stairway that led to where his friends were. His mother was next to him, tightly holding his hand.

"Jack?" She said to her silent son who was staring at the ground.

At the top of the stairs were Miko and Raf. Scattered about the area were the Autobots and the BSAA. Arcee was kneeling by the stairs, concerned about her partner. Jill was on the of side, also concerned. Everyone was in varying states of disbelief by what Rebecca and Chris had just told them. Optimus looked on from a distance and could see the teen being overwhelmed by the news. Rebecca spoke up to break the silence.

"It's not a definite thing. We don't know if his blood can work against the other viruses. In order to find out, we'll need samples of them too."

"He can cure the T-Virus." Jill said. "All the soldiers we've lost to infection, the civilians we couldn't save, Jack's blood can put an end to that."

Jack wasn't listening. He was too stuck in his own head. Arcee touched his shoulder.

"Jack, are you okay?"

Jack took a deep, shaky breath. Clearly, the news wasn't as good to him as it sounded.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Jill asked.

Jack nervously swallowed before talking.

"If you figured this out...then Wesker has already known since before you rescued me."

The atmosphere to a hard left and things were beginning to look grim.

"Yes, Jack." Chris started. "Wesker knows about this by now, making you all the more valuable to him."

"...If Wesker finds out that you're creating an anti-virus with my blood, he may just kill me just keep that from happening."

"That...that is something he would do, Jack." Chris said. "That's why we're not moving you to our labs until he's been dealt with."

Jack looked up at Chris.

"Did you think we were gonna put you at risk like that, kid? Cure or no cure, Wesker is our biggest threat and he needs to found. Making a cure will be the next step and he is not gonna find you before we find him."

Even though Jack had faith in Chris' words, he was still afraid.

"Jackson, it's gonna be okay." June said to her son. "You and I will be safe here until that monster is out of our lives. Then Jill and the others can put an end to this madness."

Jack braced himself.

"There's something I haven't told you guys."

Everyone's expression changed.

"I..I just remembered this a few days ago. I wasn't sure if it meant anything. I don't think Umbrella knows about me."

The Autobots looked confused, the BSAA even more so.

"What do you mean, Jack?" Arcee asked. "If they didn't know about you, you and June wouldn't be hiding in here with us."

"What I mean is...Wesker and his men are the only ones who know about my blood."

Jill walked over to Jack.

"How do you know this?"

"Wesker...he kept messing with head when he was..." Jack looked away when he thought of his eye. "He mentioned something about the directors and the guy Fowler told us about. Who was he?...The founder..."

"You mean Spencer?"

"Yeah, him. He said something like...Spencer would kill to have me or something like that. The way he talked about him made it sound like he was keeping me a secret from the rest of Umbrella."

Jill looked back to Chris.

"Wesker's profile mentioned that the top brass at Umbrella didn't really trust him. It makes sense that he wouldn't let Spencer find out about Jack so he could reap the benefits himself." He said.

"Okay...But why does that have you so worried?" Jill asked Jack.

"Because if I go through with this, Umbrella _will_ find out about me. If that happens, they'll never stop coming after me."

"Jack, listen..." Jill began.

"I know, you'll protect us from them. But what about everyone else? Miko and Raf are safe, but what about their families? What if they target Jasper thinking I live in town? Even if Wesker is gone, Umbrella won't stop. You guys thought you took them down but they just went into hiding and came back with a vengeance. I don't care about them coming after me, but Mom, Miko, Rafael and anyone who knows me will all be targeted by Umbrella. None of you will be safe...because of me."

Before Jackson could say anymore, Optimus stepped forward and offered his servo to him. Jack looked at it in front of him and up to Optimus.

"Come with me, Jack. You and I must talk in private."

Jack felt like he had done something wrong and nervously climbed into Optimus' servo. The Prime walked away from the others and down the corridor. Arcee and Jill watched them leave and wondered what Optimus wanted to say to him.

"Should we be worried?" Rebecca asked.

"No." Ratchet answered. "He's in good hands."

Optimus brought Jackson to a door he had always seen but never from the other side. It was Optimus' quarters, a place only his Autobots have seen on rare occasions.

"Optimus?"

The door opened and Jackson got an inside look of the mech behind the Prime. The room was bigger than the storage spaces and the walls were lined with shelves of data pads. His work desk was also filled with stacks of data pads, neatly placed on top of each other. Jack had always thought of Optimus as a bit of an intellectual, but never to this degree.

"You seemed surprised?" Optimus said.

"I just...never knew you liked to read so much."

That brought a smile to the Prime's face.

"I have always enjoyed doing so, since I was a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records."

Jack looked up at Optimus.

"A record clerk? You were a librarian?"

"I believe that is the human term, but yes. Before I became a Prime, I was known as Orion Pax."

He set Jack down on his desk as he thought back to his youth.

"Before I fell for Megatron's great deception and spoke before the High Council, I was like you Jack, young and full of ideas."

Jack found that hard to believe.

"Like me? C'mon, Optimus."

"I speak the truth. I was not always the leader that you see before you."

"Wow...That's hard to imagine."

Optimus smiled at Jack before speaking again.

"Jack, I owe you an apology."

"An apology for what?"

Optimus forced himself to look at Jackson in his eye to show his sincerity.

"When you had awoken from your ordeal, you were not in a sound state of mind."

Jack looked away as he remembered how he acted when he woke up, rubbing the back of his head.

"You were frightened and in need of reassurance. I was not there to provide it for you."

"What? Optimus, you were there. You and Chris teamed up to stop Umbrella."

"I was there to rally the team against them, but I was not there for you. Arcee, your mother, Jill Valentine, Miko and Rafael, even Rebecca Chambers all gave you emotional support to help you cope with what you had been through. I, on the other hand, chose to shut you out."

"Optimus..."

"I was not there for you in your time of need and for that, I am sorry."

Jack could see the regret on Optimus' face.

"But you still gave me and my Mom a place to stay so we could be safe from Umbrella. When they took me, you went out there to find me. You and the 'Bots are working around the clock to find Wesker on top of dealing with the Decepticons. Optimus...you saved me and Arcee from Airachnid. How could I be mad at you just because we didn't talk much after I woke up?"

Optimus looked at Jackson, finding comfort in his words.

"You destroyed Megatron's Space Bridge, your only way back to Cybertron, to keep him from bringing his Terrorcons to Earth. Nothing you do or don't do will ever change what you've done for our planet. You're..."

Jack stopped and looked away in embarrassment. Optimus was confused by Jack suddenly cutting himself off.

"Optimus...you're kind of...a hero to me."

The Prime pulled back, feeling a warmth in his spark by what Jack had just said. That made what he was about to tell him all the more difficult.

"It's stupid, right? A hero...like I'm ten years old again."

"Jackson."

"Optimus?"

"There is something you have not been told regarding Wesker and Umbrella."

Jack waited for the Prime to reveal whatever it was he didn't tell him.

"After you were rescued, me and the Autobots came to a decision."

Jack could see that the Prime was reluctant to keep talking.

"We agreed that in order to protect humanity from Umbrella, we would have to be willing to inflict human casualties."

Jack pulled back in surprise which filled Optimus with dread.

"You mean, you're gonna kill them?"

Optimus shut his eyes and nodded to answer the question.

"But...why?"

"To protect you, Jack. To protect mankind. We now know that we cannot rely on the laws of man to bring them to justice."

Jack stared at Optimus as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Oh...I see."

Optimus could tell that Jack was not happy to hear that.

"You are unhappy with this decision."

"It's not that, Optimus."

"Are you disappointed that we...I chose this path?"

"No, that's not it. Umbrella is bad news...If that's what it takes, then that's how it has to be."

"But you wish that it was not the Autobots to take such action."

"Well...If anyone can stop them, it's you guys. It's just...I can't imagine how hard this is for you, Optimus."

Optimus looked at Jack puzzled.

"I know that you value human life. You try to see the best in us, even when people like Silas show how bad we can be. But Umbrella is the worst of us and if this is what you think has to be done, well then, that says a lot more about them than it ever will about you."

Jack rubbed the back of his head again, trying to think of the right way to say what he meant to Optimus.

"Have you...killed already?"

Optimus looked at Jackson with shame.

"Yes...I have."

That shocked Jack, which wasn't something Optimus wanted to see.

"Wow...I can't...I can't imagine how hard that must've been."

"It is something that I will never forget, even in the Well of the Allspark."

"I'm sorry you were forced do that, Optimus."

That took the Prime by surprise.

"Forced?"

"I know you wouldn't have done that unless you had no other choice. I mean, for you to have to compromise your principles, your beliefs, to stop Umbrella...I know that must've been painful."

Optimus was beginning to see that Jack was wise beyond his age.

"It was, Jack. To do what I did, it was not easy."

"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to make that decision. Umbrella is forcing you to break your oath and...it just shows how bad they are...But that doesn't change who you are. You're still Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, protector of Earth. You're the one fighting for the future of both our people. You're still a worthy Prime...at least, I think you are."

And with those words, Optimus felt a heavy guilt lifted from his shoulders.

"Thank you for telling me this, Jackson."

"It's only the truth, Optimus."

Optimus then remembered something he had been thinking about for a long time.

"Jack, there is something I wish for you to have."

Jack looked up at the Prime curiously. From his subspace, Optimus produced a thin blue and silver device that looked to be some kind of key. As he lowered to Jack, it began to fold inside of itself, making it small enough to be held by a human. Jack looked at this glowing piece of metal, able to tell that it was something of great importance. He hesitantly took it and examined it closely. As he held it up to observe it, he could swear he felt something pulse within.

"What you hold in your hand is known as the Key to Vector Sigma."

Jack looked at Optimus in complete surprise. He had heard about Vector Sigma from both Arcee and Ratchet, though neither went into to great of detail about what it was.

"Vector Sigma, isn't that some kind of super computer on Cybertron?"

"It is more than that, Jackson. Vector Sigma holds all of Cybertron's ancient knowledge and history, including the Matrix of Leadership. Only a Prime can use the key to access this knowledge...or one deemed worthy by a Prime."

Jack gasped at the implication.

"Optimus, I..."

"Jack, from day I first met you, I knew that you were very different from most humans. Despite your age, you demonstrated a clearer understanding of the world around you and the situation you had found yourself in. Since then, you have shown your bravery and selflessness as well as a desire to protect the ones you care about."

"Optimus, I don't know what to say. I mean, I'm honored but...I don't think I deserve this. I'll admit that I'm probably more responsible than most kids my age, but that's only because my Mom raised me to be that way. I'm not even in the same class as someone like you. I'm not worthy to have this."

There was a time when Optimus viewed this as a lack of self confidence in Jack. But now it seemed more like humility, another trait of a Prime.

"I disagree, Jack. I believe that you are more than worthy to hold the Key. All of these admirable traits you have shown, you've done so all the while coping with a traumatic experience that would have broken others. Even now, the fear that you feel is for the sake of those important to you and not of yourself. And like many Primes before you, a great burden has been placed upon your shoulders and while you are afraid, you are willing to carry that burden. It is because of this that I am entrusting the Key to you Jack and recognize you as an honorary Prime."

The expression on Jack's face was one of disbelief that Optimus had never seen before. The Prime's word took his very breath away. He looked at the Key as if it were his own soul and held it close to his heart. Optimus saw tears coming from his left eye.

"I...I won't let you down, Optimus." The teen tearfully said.

"Neither will I, Jack. I will do everything in my power to protect you and all of humanity from Wesker and Umbrella. As I have entrusted you with this Key, you must trust me and the Autobots to keep you, your mother, Rafael, and Miko safe from harm. We will take Umbrella down and make this world safe from their horrors. From one Prime to another, you have my word."

Optimus held his servo out for Jack who climbed in the center of it. He brought Jack to his chassis and held him close to his spark chamber.

"You have my word too, Optimus. I'll keep the Key safe...and I'll do my part to create a cure."

Jack sat down and leaned against Optimus' spark chamber.

"Thank you, Jackson, for holding on to your faith in me."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was as Wesker thought, his men had confirmed his suspicions. One of his agents in Nevada caught sight of the green transformer and tailed it to it's destination. Though it was lost on the outskirts of Jasper, the ensuing stake out in the rock formations revealed a secret entrance inside of a large messa. This must have been where the Autobots were located and where they were hiding Jackson. Now Wesker was on his way back to the States to begin the retrieval of his test subject. He would have to make sure he captured his mother as well to keep the boy in line. of course, he would also have to inflict severe pain on the woman to show him that he was not to be tested again. This time, the boy would know better. And if Chris and Jill were there, they would not leave the base alive. Wesker was not going to let them escape his wrath. They were going to pay for their interference.

The flight back to Nevada was long and boring for the most part. Because of the necessary equipment to keep Jack's father in cryostasis, he was being transported by boat with Russell. Wesker would have traveled with him back to Jasper, but he wanted to confirm the Autobot's location for himself as soon as possible. All of this waiting would pay off soon enough. In a matter of days, 'Project Ascension' would be underway.

Wesker stared out of the window, watching his escort of combat aircrafts following beside him. Before he could shut it, he took notice of a small, blue, unmanned aircraft flying by his escort. It looked to be the shape of some kind of bird. Suddenly, one of the aircrafts was swallowed by a pink explosion and plummeted to the ground. Wesker moved from his seat quickly.

"Sir, we're under attack!" One his pilots said.

Wesker heard another explosion, followed by another and then two more. He knew that it was his escort.

"Sir, we have an attack drone above us!"

The plain shifted suddenly and Wesker saw several metal tentacles take hold of one of the wings. He heard the sound of metal being bent and torn and quickly reached for his phone. He dialed the number to Russell and connected instantly.

"We're taking heavy damage!"

Wesker ignored his pilot and began speaking with Russell as calmly as he could.

"Russell, pay close attention. My aircraft is under attack...No, there is nothing you can do from where you are. Listen to me very carefully, make sure that the test subject reaches Nevada unharmed. You are to guard it with your life. Get to Nevada and wait for my orders. I will regain control of the situation. Follow your orders, Russell. I'm counting on you."

Just then, a hole was ripped through the top of the aircraft and a pair of tentacles reached in and grabbed Wesker. Seeing no point in trying to resist, even with his enhanced strength, Wesker submitted to the situation. Once he was pulled from the now flight incapable aircraft, it was let go and fell to the ocean. Wesker was then lifted into the cockpit of a dark blue aircraft.

"I take it you're another transformer. Are you Autobot or Decepticon?"

The Transformer responded in a deep and monstrous voice that sounded like a recording.

"Autobots inferior, Decepticons superior."

With his question answered, Wesker said nothing else as the Decepticon took him wherever he intended to. Soon enough, Wesker was able to see their destination. For the first time in his life, Wesker was speechless. What he saw was a massive black warship, bigger than anything that could be created by man. The Decepticon flew to the landing strip and went inside of the ship, He transformed into a faceless, bipedal being with elongated arms. He held Wesker in his claws as he walked down the dark corridors of the ship. He saw many Decepticons that looked indistinguishable from each other. They all stepped out of the way of the silent Decepticon, showing Wesker that he held some prestige over them. They finally came to a room where four unique looking transformers stood in front of a large monitor. All but one turned their attentions to the Decepticon holding Wesker. There was a large blue one with an orange face and missing an eye, a red one with a white face wearing a smug expression, and a feminine looking purple and black one with a sliver face who was watching Wesker closely. The Decepticon that kept his back turned was larger than all of them, gunmetal gray with spiked edges on his frame and a large purple cannon fitted to his right arm. He gave off a presence similar to, but darker than, Optimus Prime. This had to be the Decepticon in charge. The transformer who took him placed him down before them, earning a variety of expressions. Wesker was not intimidated in the slightest.

"Do you know who I am?" The large Decepticon said.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that you're the leader of the Decepticons."

The Decepticon turned around and faced Wesker, revealing his scarred and merciless face.

"I am Lord Megatron, Gladiator from the Pits of Kaon, the ruler that Cybertron needed, and soon to be conqueror of this miserable little planet."

Wesker was not impressed. If there was one thing he hated, it was boasting. This earned him some odd looks from the other Decepticons.

"Do you know why you're here?" Megatron asked.

"No, nor do I care."

"Your will is quite strong not to cower before the face of a being who could crush you with a single digit."

"You aren't the first giants that I've walked among."

Megatron seemed intrigued.

"Interesting. You're here because I find you fascinating to say the least. After all..."

The Decepticon who brought him had walked over to an alien console and brought up images of Wesker during his days as the captain of S.T.A.R.S. along with files detailing his death at the Spencer mansion and several files on Umbrella.

"It's not everyday that I speak with a dead man, Captain Albert Wesker."

"I see you've done your homework on me."

"I have and it has brought about many questions. Questions such as..."

A large blade extended from between his arm and his cannon.

"What does Umbrella want with the Autobots? Talk, Wesker and make it the truth. If you lie to me, I will give accuracy to your apparent demise."

Wesker may not have been scared, but he was in a bad situation, one he wasn't sure how to get out of.

"It's not me who's interested in them, you've got that backwards. It's them who are getting in my way."

"Oh, really? And what could you possibly have that they want?"

Wesker's gears were turning.

"It's not what they want, but their new allies."

Megatron appeared interested.

"Explain."

"The BSAA, a group that's holding a grudge against Umbrella, they've aligned themselves with your Autobots."

"Is that so? And why would the Autobots choose to take on new allies?"

"Umbrella has not been the most well loved corporation as of late."

"So I've heard, something about illegal experiments."

"Apparently, they saw fit to get involved with human affairs."

"Typical, Optimus."

"My guess is that they decided to form an alliance with this self righteous organization to take me and Umbrella down. _That_ is my involvement with the Autobots."

This seemed to satisfy Megatron and the other Decepticons except for the female. She held a fierce gaze on Wesker the moment she saw him.

"Well, Albert Wesker, you'll be pleased to know that you needn't worry about the Autobots any longer. I intend to destroy what remains of that broken faction and snuff out Optimus Prime's spark once and for all. And as for this BSAA, I will do you a favor and kill them all as well. If they wish to be allies with the Autobots, then they can die like Autobots. You don't have to worry about either 'Captain'."

Megatron then lifted his cannon and aimed it at Wesker.

"You're worries begin and end with me."

"I wouldn't do that, _'My Lord'_."

Megatron held his cannon where it was, but his expression changed.

"And why not?"

"I could be a valuable asset to you if you give me a chance."

Now he lowered his cannon. He seemed offended by what Wesker was asking.

"And what possible use would I have for a weak organic like yourself?"

"For one thing, I know the location of the Autobot's base."

Megatron and the other Decepticons became shocked.

"If that's at all important to you, I was actually on my way there now before I was forced into this meeting."

Megatron stared down Wesker, who didn't falter. He knew when he was being sized up. Megatron withdrew his blade and smirked down at Wesker.

"Please continue, Captain Wesker."

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 **Well, that ain't good.**  
 **It hasn't been an easy week for me. I've suffered two losses that have left a void in my heart. The first was on Sunday when I saw the season finale of RWBY and was left heartbroken as season 3 finale of Game of Thrones. And the very next day, I had to say goodbye to a good friend, Gravity Falls. First Teen Titans, then Avatar: TLA, then Young Justice, Transformers Prime, Legend of Korra, now the mysteries of Gravity Falls. Why do all great things have to come to an end? If I take any comfort in this, it's that Monty Oum would be proud of how his series had turned out and that Alex Hirsch ended his show on such a good note. Alex Hirsch, you are my senpai. Please don't leave me, Steven Universe.**  
 **Enough angsting, let's talk about this chapter. Isn't that just the way to go, to follow up such a hope spot with a sign of dark times ahead? So yeah, Wesker's sharing some info with Megatron and I don't think the warlord is gonna let it go to waste. Now, understand that this is not an alignment. Megatron doesn't know the details of what Wesker and Umbrella has done. As far as he's concerned, he's got some use to him for the moment. Wesker, on the other hand, is merely playing the cards he's been dealt. He's got a few aces up his sleep. He better watch out for Airachnid, though. She doesn't seem to be too fond of him.**  
 **Okay, so I brought up the Plagas in this chapter. I think I am going to have a Plagas parasite put in Jack's father to control him better, but I not sure who to give the dominant strain to. Granted, I could take artistic license here, but I'm not sure how compatible the parasite is with Wesker and his condition. (I know most of you know what condition I'm referring to, but I don't want to spoil anything for the few non Resident Evil fans of my readers.) So I ask, should Wesker have the dominant strain or his right hand man Russell, who Wesker clearly trust more than most as evidence in this chapter? Discuss and comment to let me know. As for my last request, I have come up with a middle ground to my Transformer level B.O.W.s. I just have to lay down some details.**  
 **I'm no hematologist, so I have no idea if the explanation of Jack's blood is even possible or makes sense by fictional standards. But we now know what makes him special. But Wesker still has a plan for him and things are about to heat up with the Decepticons.**  
 **I decided to stray from cannon regarding Jack receiving the Key to Vector Sigma. Originally, I intended for the conversation to end with Optimus telling Jack about his plans against Umbrella. After reading it through, giving Jack the Key just made sense. I really like the interaction between them. Sorry if it went on for a bit too long.**  
 **Unfortunately, I do have some bad news. I leave the Saturday after next and will probably not post another chapter before then or for a while. I am halfway done with the third chapter to A Shard of Glass and will try to get that up before I make the trip. But for the moment, the story is on temporary hiatus. I swear that I will pick it up again once I have access to the internet. But for now, this may be the last chapter for a few months. Again, I really wanna thank you guys for following me this far and hope to hear from you in the comments when I come back. I really like writing these stories and hearing your feedback. This isn't the end. I'll see you soon. Peace.**


	22. Chapter 22

Megatron looked upon the many images of Jasper, taken from traffic and security cameras, all thanks to Soundwave. Among them were images of Bulkhead's alt, Bumblebee's, and Arcee riding with Jack around town.

"Of all the places for the Autobots to rest their heads, I would've never guessed it would be a pathetic town such as this. I must say, I am disappointed in Optimus Prime."

Soundwave then input the coordinates given to him by Wesker and brought up an image of the mesa where the Autobot base was hidden.

"And you're certain that this is where their base is located?" Megatron asked.

"I had my men confirm it for me. There's a secret entrance at the base of the mountain. I believe it used to be some sort of missile silo for the military, re-purposed for their operations."

Megatron had to admit that he was impressed by this human, being able to locate the Autobots as well as showing no signs of fear in his presence. The other Decepticons were not as pleased with him, feeling as if he had made them look bad. Airachnid in particular didn't like him at all, believing he had something to do with Jack's eye. That and something about him rubbed her the wrong way. He was a lot like Silas, calm, collected, arrogant, but Airachnid had found it amusing at how Silas and M.E.C.H. coveted their technology so badly that they failed to realize how far out of their element they actually were. They were so blinded by their own goals that they couldn't see the futility of it all. Even if they had managed to hold on to Arcee, they could never truly replicate the power held by a real Cybertronian. But with this Wesker character, he didn't seem to care at all about them or their tech. Here he was, standing by an alien life form, one that could crush him with a fraction of his strength, and he looked like he couldn't care less. It was almost as if he had better things to do than to be helping the great Lord Megatron. Airachnid had never seen anyone so unaffected by their presence as she had with this odd human. What could he have possibly seen that has made him so fearless of the Decepticons? The whole thing unsettled her greatly and she didn't like being unsettled, least of all by a human.

"Well, there you have it." Wesker spoke up without restraint, earning looks from everyone except Megatron and Soundwave. "Have I bought myself a reprieve?"

Megatron looked down at the audacious little human.

"Time, Captain Wesker, you've bought yourself some time."

Megatron gave Airachnid a nod and the femme was all to happy to take Wesker into her claws.

"I'm going to put this intelligence to good use and launch an attack on the Autobots. Don't worry, I'll be sure to send the BSAA your regards. In fact, I'll even allow you to witness their deaths by my servos. And once I have conquered this planet, I will allow you to live among the few who will serve me and my Decepticons. Consider it gratitude for your assistance."

"Aren't you the benevolent ruler." Wesker said dryly.

Megatron chuckled at Wesker's attitude.

"I _am,_ however _,_ going to have to break that spirit of yours, Wesker."

"We will see, _My Lord_."

That earned a displeased look from the warlord.

"Airachnid, I believe we have cages somewhere on this ship. Find a nice cramped one for our guest. Then come back here immediately so we can begin planning our attack."

"As you wish, Lord Megatron."

Airachnid began leaving the area with Wesker in her grasp.

"I think he likes me." Wesker commented.

Airachnid didn't find this human amusing in the least. How she wanted remove his head right then and there. She found the cages that Megatron spoke of. They looked similar to the rabbit cages in Umbrella's labs. Airachnid opened up the closest one and threw Wesker inside without a care for his well being. She slammed it shut, locking it from the outside. Wesker got up and dusted himself off without any real complaint. Airachnid lowered her face to the cage so that she could see this arrogant human as she spoke.

"You and I will be having a private conversation very soon, Wesker."

Her face was calm, but Wesker could see the anger in her glowing pink eyes.

"I look forward to it, my dear."

Every word out of his mouth only made Airachnid angrier.

"I hope for your sake that you aren't the human that I think you are because if so..."

Airachnid spit venom into the cage next to Wesker's which burned right through the cage beneath it. Airachnid left with a smirk on her face as Wesker began to figure a way out of this situation.

As calm as he was, everything he was working for was about to be destroyed by the Decepticons. If Jackson was killed along with everyone else then all of his efforts would've been for nothing. He had to get back to Russell and get his men prepared to make their move. He could easily break out of his cage with no real effort, but he still needed a way off of the ship. He was going to have to sneak through the next ground bridge that opened up. There were many factors he had to account for while he was aboard this alien ship, such as raising alarm when his cage is found empty. He had to pick his moment. The only thing he knew for sure was that Megatron was not going to launch his attack right away. If he was half the warlord he considered himself to be, he was going to take time to plan ahead before making his move. Wesker had until then to escape.

Airachnid went back to the others where Megatron was addressing them. They all looked eager to wage war with the Autobots. Breakdown already had his hammer drawn and Knockout was standing with his scepter in hand.

"So now we know where the Autochumps live." Breakdown said. "When do we get to pay'em a visit?"

"Patience, Breakdown. We will launch our attack in due time. But we cannot strike blindly and unprepared. Optimus Prime will no doubt have countermeasures in play. We need to have a plan before we strike."

"All I know is when we move in, Bulkhead is mine. And his loud little pet, she's mine too. I'm gonna squash her right in front of him." Breakdown proclaimed.

"You may pick and choose your opponents, but no one is to engage Optimus Prime. His spark is mine to extinguish. Anyone who disobeys that order will feel my sword run them through. Is that clear?"

All the Decepticons stood straight in fear. None needed to be told that Megatron wanted the Prime for himself.

"Before we do anything, we need to confirm that this mesa is actually the Autobot base. Soundwave, keep it under surveillance at all times. If it is as Wesker claims, I want visual proof."

Soundwave nodded in response.

"The rest of you are to wait for my orders. No one is to make a move without my command."

Megatron left the area and the others began talking among themselves.

"Heh, I can't wait to pound that Wrecker right into the dirt." Breakdown said as he slammed his hammer into his servo.

"Too bad for Starscream." Knockout began. "He's going to miss out on all the fun."

Knockout looked at Airachnid who didn't seem as excited as the rest of them.

"And what's your deal, sweetspark? You finally get the chance to snuff out that femme once and for all."

Airachnid looked at Knockout with a very fierce expression.

"You can all go after whoever you want to, but no one touches my Jack. He belongs to me and if any of you forget that, I will snuff out your spark as slowly as painfully as possible. Got it?"

For some reason, she was just as scary as Megatron. She always was when it came to that human. Airachnid left the area with only Knockout, Breakdown, and Soundwave remaining.

"What crawled up her tailpipe?" Breakdown asked.

"Who knows? I have no idea why she's so obsessed with that little human."

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Jack was sitting on the metal crate in the main hall, staring at the Key to Vector Sigma. He could feel the importance of the alien object in his hand. It had meant a great deal to Jack to be trusted with such a precious artifact. For the umpteenth time today, he wondered if he was really worthy of it. He still didn't know what it was that Optimus saw in him, but he wasn't going to question it.

"I won't let you down, Optimus." He said to himself as he did earlier to the Prime.

"What was that, partner?"

Jack looked up and saw Arcee walking towards him. He held the Key face down under his hand.

"Nothin', Arcee."

Arcee took a seat on the ground by the crate.

"You alright? You look a million miles away."

"Just...a little overwhelmed is all."

"I had a feeling. Must be pretty crazy, having that kind responsibility all of a sudden."

"Must be what Optimus feels all the time."

"I couldn't even imagine. But I guess you know what that like now."

Arcee noticed Jack looking at the Key.

"What'cha got there, Jack?"

Jack wasn't sure if Optimus would want him to tell Arcee about the Key, but he decided when he woke up that he wouldn't keep anymore secrets for her. He handed her the Key. She took it and examined it closely.

"This is Cybertron tech. Where'd you get this?"

"Optimus gave it to me. He said it's the Key to Vector Sigma."

Arcee's optics suddenly widened.

"Jack, do you know what this is? I mean, really know?"

"Yeah, Optimus told me all about it. He said that only a Prime can use it or someone they deem worthy, which I guess means me now."

That surprised Arcee even further, apparently not knowing that last part.

"Whoa, so he _really_ trusts you."

"Hard to believe, huh?"

Arcee looked back at her partner.

"Not _that_ hard."

Jack looked on at nothing by his side, still deep in thought.

"Jack?"

"I just...I just hope I can live up to whatever he sees in me."

Arcee placed her servo on Jack's back.

"You already have, Jack. If Optimus wanted you have have this then you've already earned it. Trust me, Optimus holds us all to high standards so if he considers you worthy...well, a Prime is rarely wrong."

Jack looked back at Arcee.

"You think so, Arcee?"

Arcee smiled at Jack. Humility was a trait that he and Optimus shared.

"You bet, I do."

She moved closer to Jack, putting her servo around him.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Arcee."

Arcee looked at Jack in shock.

"Jack." She said breathlessly, even though Cybertronians didn't breath.

"I mean it. I don't know where I'd be if I'd never met you."

Arcee kept staring at Jack who held a distant gaze in front of him.

"Jack?"

"Yeah,'Cee?"

"You remember what Airachnid said about Starscream, right?"

Jack looked down.

"Yeah, he was the one who took out your old partner."

"Yeah, he offlined Cliffjumper. Of all the ways to go out, being snuffed by that coward, Cliff deserved better than that."

Jack looked at Arcee with sympathy, taking a hold of her servo.

"I'm sorry, Arcee."

"I know, Jack. You told me so when we first became partners but I threw it back in your face. I never said I was sorry for that."

"C'mon Arcee, that's old news."

"Still, thank you for caring then and still caring now. But that's not the point I'm trying to make."

Now Arcee was looking distant.

"You remember how I was when we crossed paths with Airachnid in the forest, how I acted. After that incident, I knew I had to control my anger so I wouldn't put you in that kind of situation again. If I had found out about Starscream and Cliffjumper a few months ago, I would've acted the same way, letting my anger cloud my better judgement. But right now, all I care about is holding on to you. I still want to get Airachnid and Starscream for taking my partners away from me, but I know where my mission lies and what's most important to me."

Arcee glanced at Jack with a smile on her face, telling him who she was referring to.

"I was lost and angry before I met you, Jack. I don't know where I'd be without you either...and I don't want to know. That's why I'm fighting so hard to keep you safe from Umbrella, so I never have to find out. I'm not losing my partner a third time."

Jack was smiling now, staring forward again. Without warning, Arcee pulled Jack into her lap and held him close to her frame. Jack didn't protest in the slightest. The two sat for a little while longer, growing closer each second they held each other.

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"Optimus?"

Optimus, who seemed to be about to move several cubes of energon somewhere else, turned around and saw June standing below him.

"Greetings, Ms. Darby."

"Hello, I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Of course not. Is there something you need?"

"I just came to find you because...I wanted to thank you."

Optimus reached down and allowed June to step onto his servo. He lifted her up onto one of the energon cubes to speak with him at face level.

"What is it that you wish to thank me for, Ms. Darby?"

"Whatever it is that you and Jack talked about earlier, it really lifted his spirits."

Optimus felt his mood lighten as he thought about the talk he and Jackson had in his quarters, learning that Jack still trusted him.

"There is no need to thank me, Ms. Darby. In truth, our talk was as beneficial to myself as it was to Jackson."

"Oh?"

"We came to an understanding. Jackson has helped me come to terms with some of the decisions I have made recently. It seems I had underestimated his capacity for understanding and compassion."

June smirked at the idea of Optimus learning something from her son. If such a thing was possible, clearly she had done something right with the way she had raised him.

"Still, Optimus, you have my thanks. Jack seemed so frightened by what Chris had told him, but you helped get him through it. I always hate to see when Jack get's scared like that, especially when Umbrella's involved. And when I can't help him, I feel so powerless. I guess it's a good thing he has you."

"I am always here for Jackson when he needs me, as I am with Miko, Rafael, and you."

June gasped in surprise.

"Optimus."

"You are as much a part of our family as your son, thus, under our protection."

June felt herself feeling a bit flustered by Optimus' words.

"Wow...I don't know what to say."

"You need not say anything, Ms. Darby. I am happy to comfort Jackson in his time of need."

Optimus thought of how Jack alleviated his guilt about avoiding him and he remembered how he had done the same to June when he returned from Yemen.

"Is something the matter, Optimus?"

"I feel...I feel that I owe you the same apology that I owed Jackson."

"Apology?"

"Yes...Jack has assured me that he does not feel wronged for my inaction and for that I am grateful. However, I cannot forget the state that you were in when me and Agent Redfield returned from our mission."

June thought back to when Jack was first rescued...and when she saw what Umbrella had done to him.

"Optimus, you can't possibly blame yourself for that."

"No, but I do feel as if I could have done more for you. I remember quite clearly how you looked to me upon my return. I should have responded to your distress. Instead, I left you to tend to my own."

This was something that Jack often did, blaming himself for things beyond his control.

"You hold yourself to too high of standard, do you know that?"

Optimus looked confusingly at June.

"You're right, I did want you to comfort me the way you did when I told you about Raccoon City, to tell me that it was going to be okay."

Optimus expression began to falter.

"But you were upset too, Optimus. Seeing Jack like that was painful for you as well. How could you help me through my grief when you needed to get through your own?"

"But...as a Prime...I should have been able to..."

"Prime, no Prime, you're still a living being with a soul. You hurt just like the rest of us. If anything, you tending to your own grief showed me just how much you care about my son."

June stepped to the edge of the cube, requesting Optimus' servo. He held it out for her to step on and brought it close enough for her to touch his spark chamber. She looked down to hide her somber expression.

"Jack always looked up to his father. He used to put him high up on a pedestal. When we reunited with him after escaping Raccoon City, Jack ran right into his arms where he felt safe. Jack's father promised him he'd never let him go. He was a liar...because the moment things got too hard, he walked out. His son needed him more than he ever had and he abandoned him. That destroyed Jackson for years to come. Things got really hard after that...I never let another man into my life...because I was afraid of Jack getting hurt again. I didn't want him to embrace someone else only to be let down a second time."

June looked up at Optimus with the blue eyes that Jack could've only gotten from her.

"I know you would never hurt him, that you'll protect him from Umbrella and Airachnid. As long as he has you, I know he's safe. I don't mean to force this role on you, but my son does look up to you and I know you'll never let him down."

Optimus held a determined look on his face.

"You have my word that I will do none of those things to Jackson. I will never hurt him in any way."

June smiled up at the Prime and rested her head in his spark chamber.

"Thank you, Optimus. That's all a mother can ask for."

Optimus let June down and allowed her to leave the storage room.

"June."

This was the second time that he called her by her first name.

"All that I have promised about Jackson...extends to you as well. He is not the only one that I will never abandon."

June's heart skipped a beat and she felt herself losing her breath. Optimus held his powerful, yet warm, gaze on her for a moment before turning around to continue his work. June left the area with her hand over her chest. Her heart was suddenly beating a little faster.

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Wesker was sitting crossed legged in his cage. Patiently waiting for a chance to make his next move. A metallic bang took his attention and he saw the female Decepticon from earlier.

"Airachnid, was it?"

"We need to talk."

Wesker stood up and walked over to the front of the cage. Airachnid held a fierce gaze over him, but he didn't falter in the slightest.

"I must admit, you've got some ball bearings for a human."

"You underestimate mankind greatly, my dear. A few of us may surprise you in the future."

Airachnid scoffed at the thought.

"I doubt that."

"So what do you want with me?"

Airachnid lifted her servo to the cage and ran her claw across the metal.

"Jackson Darby."

Wesker made sure to keep his poker face on.

"And who is that?"

Airachnid harshly ran her slaw against the cage.

"Don't play games with me, Wesker."

"I don't know a Jackson Darby."

"You're lying, he told me all about you."

"Did he? And what did he say?"

"That you tortured him and took his eye."

Wesker cursed himself for holding on to the boy's right eye which was still in his jacket.

"And why would I do something like that?"

"You tell me."

"Well, what did _he_ tell you?"

"He said that you're insane."

"Well then, he's wrong. I am _quite_ sane."

Airachnid didn't like being given the run around like this.

"I'm not going to ask you again."

"You haven't _asked_ me anything."

Airachnid bared her fangs and hissed at Wesker. His non-reaction only frustrated her further.

"I'm gonna make you suffer for every little smug remark you throw at me."

"I didn't take anyone's eye."

"Liar!"

"I'm a Captain. I don't know how things are done on your planet, but on Earth, men of my position don't dirty their hands with grunt work."

Wesker always surprised himself with how easily he could lie. Airachnid seemed to believe him. She still didn't seem to like him though.

"Alright, you weren't the one who hurt my Jack. You either ordered the human who did or know who it was."

Wesker was intrigued now.

" _Your_ Jack?"

Her smirk from earlier returned.

"Yes, _my_ Jack."

"And why are you so interested in a human?"

"Well, not like it's any of your business, but me a Jack have a strange relationship. You see, someone I loathe holds him close to her spark and I make it my business to hurt her any way I can. Hunting her partners is always a good way to torment her."

This did not sit well with Wesker. Jack was a valuable specimen to his research and this Decepticon wanted to kill him because of someone he knew. This alien race may not be that much more intelligent than humans, it seemed.

"But on a much more personal level, my Jack crossed me in a way that deserves my affections. I won't go into the details. Jack owes me a dance and someone has stolen his first kiss from me. I mean to pay them back in kind."

It was worse than Wesker thought. Airachnid had some kind of infatuation with Jackson Darby. The way she spoke, she sounded like some deranged stalker with a twisted crush on him. If she took part in the attack on the Autobot base, she would make it a point to find the boy and kill him herself. The urgency of the situation was not lost on Wesker.

"So tell me who it was that took my Jack's pretty blue eye and maybe I'll let you live long enough to be Megatron's pet."

Wesker acted as if he was deep in thought.

"The name does sound familiar...I've heard talk of it around the labs. I don't know why Umbrella would be interested in him."

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"He sounds like a civilian. The only reason a civilian would be of interest to us is if they knew something of importance. Why they would go as far as torture, I'm sure I don't know."

Airachnid was still not satisfied with his answer.

"Looks like I'm going to have to jog your memory."

Wesker didn't have a choice now. The moment she opened the cage, he was going to have to make a run for it. As she went to unhitch the lock, a call came in through her comm link.

 _"Airachnid, Soundwave is waiting on you."_ Knockout said through the link.

She looked back at Wesker with that twisted smirk.

"We will speak again, Captain."

Airachnid went to leave Wesker alone.

"And where are you off to?"

Airachnid couldn't believe the nerve of this human, but she decided to toy with him.

"I'm off to do some recon. Me and Soundwave are gonna put some of that intel you gave Megatron to the test. I hope for your sake that it checks out."

Wesker watched closely as she left. This was his chance. If they were going to use a ground bridge then he needed to move quickly. Once he was sure that Airachnid was gone, he walked over behind the latch of the cage. Wesker pulled his arm to his shoulder and struck at the space between where the opening was. He struck again and again until there was a space big enough for his to fit his hands in. He prepared himself. It was going to take all of his strength to break this alien metal. He began pulling to metal apart, widening the space in between. He starting growling and bearing his teeth, straining his muscles as he pulled harder and harder. His eyes were getting brighter, shining through his sunglasses. Finally, he tore two chunks of metal from the door. With the lock weakened, he kicked it with all his might and broke off the hitch, throwing the door open. Wesker took this time to catch his breath, removing his glasses to wipe away the sweat he worked up. Once he settled himself, he put his glasses back on and began moving through the ship too fast for anyone to see. He needed to get back to where the faceless Decepticon had brought him.

Airachnid arrived on the brig where Soundwave and Knockout were waiting for her. Knockout input the coordinates and opened up a ground bridge. Airachnid and Soundwave stepped through and found themselves in the Nevada desert. Soundwave heard something move on the ground and looked to where it came from. There was nothing close by so he disregarded it.

"Alright, Soundwave. Let's get started, shall we?"

Soundwave activated Laserbeak and sent him on ahead. He looked to Airachnid and played back another recorded message from Megatron.

:: _Make sure Airachnid does not abandon us as she did before. Shoot her in the back if she tries._ ::

"You wouldn't _really_ shoot me in the back, would you Soundwave?"

Soundwave armed his blaster in response.

"Fair enough. Don't worry, if this gets me closer to Arcee and Jack, I have no intention of missing out."

The two took their alt forms and left the area for the Autobot base. Behind a rock, a noticeable distance away, Wesker stepped out to watch them leave. Once they were out of sight, he reached into the back of his mouth. He removed a molar which had been hollowed out to hide a tracking device. He shook the device free and activated it, letting his men know where he was.

Ten minutes later, several black SUV's approached the area, Russell riding in the front. He stepped out and approached Wesker.

"Sir, you're alive."

"I would seem that way."

"I did as you told me. Everything is ready to go on your orders."

Wesker removed his sunglasses and walked up to Russell. He stared into his eyes and saw that his pupils were mutated. He must've injected himself with the dominant Plaga strain.

"I'm sorry, Sir. We weren't sure if you were still alive and I had to make a call."

Wesker smirked and lightly patted Russell on the cheek twice before walking to the SUV.

"We need to move fast. Another party is in play."

Wesker entered the vehicle with Russell in the driver's seat.

"Who, Sir?"

"The Decepticons, they plan to move on the Autobots very soon now that they know of their location."

"Do you think we'll able to extract Jackson Darby before they do, Sir?"

"No, which is why we're gonna wait for them to attack."

"I don't understand, Sir."

"Keep the mesa under surveillance. When the Decepticon's strike, Optimus and his Autobots will meet them head on. That's when we move in. While they're busy warring with each other, all we'll have to worry about is getting through the BSAA. Now that you have the plaga inside of you, you can control the B.O.W.s and make sure the G-Mutation makes it to the boy. Let's go, we don't know how much time we have."

The vehicles pulled away and headed for the safe house. Team Prime had no idea of what was coming their way.

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It was early in the new day at the Autobot base. A senior officer of the BSAA was leading a group of soldiers through their morning regimen which included running around the base. They were jogging through the halls, being sure to leave enough space for any Autobots passing by. As they approached the main hall, they heard the sounds of metallic feet scraping against the metal floor.

"Halt, ladies." The senior officer said as she peeked out into the main hall.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack were in the middle of "lobbing" once again and thus, left no room for the soldiers to pass.

"Looks like another lobbing match. Alright ladies, detour." She said as her men turned around and ran back down the hall.

Jack, Miko, and Raf cheered the game on as Jill, Rebecca, and Arcee looked on.

"So lobbing is pretty much basketball?" Rebecca commented.

"By way of Cybertron." Arcee answered back.

"So basketball with a giant chunk of scrap metal?" Jill asked.

"Basically." Arcee replied.

"How come you're not playing, Arcee?" Raf asked.

"Not my thing, Raf."

"Yeah, Arcee doesn't like to mix it up with the Wreckers." Wheeljack commented.

Arcee responded by running up the Bulkhead who was holding the metal ball and kicking out of his hands. While it was in the air, Arcee kicked it straight into Wheeljack's face which knocked him flat on his back.

"Ha-ha, nice one 'Cee." Bulkhead laughed.

"You were saying, Wrecker?"

Wheeljack got up and shook his helm.

"Point taken." He said.

"Kickball by way of Cybertron?" Jack asked.

"Su-weet! New Autobot game!" Miko cheered.

Everyone got a good laugh and Jack walked over to Rebecca and Jill.

"So, any news on this Simmons guy." He asked.

Jill sighed, not having anything to tell Jack.

"It's not easy, Jack. Keeping tabs on Simmons without being made is a tough gig. It's not gonna happen overnight."

"Can't one of the 'Bots keep an eye out for him." Raf asked.

"Hey, yeah. This guy walks down the block and all he sees is a green truck or a blue motorcycle. Little does he know that it's actually one of our 'Bots." Miko added.

"That's true, Miko. But then we'd have to follow'em and there are some places where we won't be able to." Arcee answered. "Besides, empty vehicles tailing you everywhere look more suspicious than a human. Even robots in disguise have limits."

Miko deflated in defeat.

"Aw, I thought that would work. Since Umbrella's reared their stupid heads, me and Bulk haven't gone dune bashing in like forever."

"C'mon, Miko. It won't be like this for much longer." Bulkhead reasoned.

"He's right." Jill said. "We'll get to Simmons sooner or later. You just gotta be patient. We want you all to be safe."

"I know...and when it's over, I'll be ready to go along with whatever you want to do with my blood." Jack said.

"That's the spirit, Jacks." Rebecca said.

"You've been a little more upbeat lately, kid." Jill began. "What gives?"

"Nothing, just had a real long talk with some friends."

He and Arcee exchanged a look. Optimus had entered the area and Jack shied away from his presence, though he was smiling.

"Seems like whatever you and your friends talked about really gave you a boost in confidence. But are you sure you're okay with using your blood to make an anti-virus?" Jill asked.

"I mean, if it could save lives, why wouldn't I be? I've got a responsibility. I can't back down from that."

Ratchet, who had already learned about Jack holding the Key to Vector Sigma, sent Optimus a knowing smile.

"Spoken like a Prime, kid." The medic said to himself.

Suddenly, several alarming beeps pulled Ratchet's attention. He looked to see what was causing such a disturbance. When he realized what was happening, shock grabbed him by the spark.

"Optimus!"

Optimus ran over to the console. Everyone else looked on with worry.

"What is it, old friend?" The Prime asked.

He looked at the monitor and saw several Decepticon signals closing in on their location.

"By the All Spark."

"Optimus?" Arcee asked.

"Ratchet, prepare the proper protocols for this situation. Agent Valentine, Chambers, keep the children safe. Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Arcee, you three are with me. Contact Bumblebee and have him meet us outside the base."

"Understood, Optimus." Ratchet replied.

"Whoa, what goin' on?" Jack asked.

"The Decepticons, Jack. It appears that they have learned of our location." Optimus answered.

All the humans became shocked to hear this.

"But...how?" Rafael nervously asked.

"Doesn't matter. We need to be ready to move. No matter what happens, stay inside the base." Arcee said as she prepared to leave.

"And we mean it this time, Miko." Bulkhead added.

The four Autobots transformed and drove through the tunnel entrance.

"You think they'll be okay?" Raf asked.

"C'mon, guys. Let's get somewhere safe." Rebecca said as she took the children with her.

Jill looked to Ratchet.

"What can I do, Doctor?"

"Against the Decepticons, nothing. What you can do is alert your team and have them ready to relocate. If we cannot drive the Decepticons away then we will have to abandon Outpost Omega One. Everyone will need to be ready to go through the ground bridge as quickly as possible. Can I count on you, Jill?"

"I got it covered, Ratchet."

"Thank you."

Jill left the area to do as whe was instructed. Ratchet began inputting the set of coordinates that only he, Arcee, and Optimus knew.

"I hope to Primus that is doesn't come to this."

Another alarm grabbed Ratchet's attention which shocked him even more than the last one.

"Primus, no."

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 _"Sir, we've spotted Decepticons approaching the Mesa."_

Wesker stood up from his seat and addressed his men.

"It's time. We need to move right now. Everyone knows what they need to do."

His soldiers began entering various aircrafts outside, each carrying sealed pods and containers holding B.O.W.s. Wesker walked up to one that was sealed extra tight. There was something banging around on the inside.

"I want you be extra careful with this one. By the time we arrive, the Plaga should have taken control."

Wesker looked to Russell who was already in control of several B.O.W.s.

"Are you ready for this, Russell?"

"I know what to do, Sir. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. And remember, I want the mother too. We need her to keep Jackson under control."

Russell climbed into aircraft with Wesker and latched it onto the sealed pod. A creature could be heard screaming inside of it. The screams were monstrous, but despite being a mutation, it still sounded vaguely human. The aircraft lifted off and began heading towards the Autobot base.

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Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack drove out of the base and transformed. When they looked up, horror spread across their faces.

"Megatron." Optimus said.

"What now, Optimus?" Bulkhead asked.

Optimus' activated his face mask.

"We fight to protect our home, Bulkhead and our family."

Bumblebee pulled up alongside the Autobots and saw what they saw. High above the morning sky, the Nemesis casted a dark shadow over the desert. A battle was set to take place in Jasper, one that would determine the small town's fate.

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 **Aw damn, it's goin' down now.**  
 **Yes, I'm back. But unfortunately only for a limited time. My cousin came over and she has hot spot on her phone so I was able to upload two finished stories. One was a chapter for A Shard of Glass, the other is this one. I'm already working on another chapter for each, but until I get my internet up, when you'll get those is up in the air right now. I need to find a library around where I live and pay to use their computers. I hope this hold you over until I can come back in full capacity.**  
 **Alright, few things set up in this chapter. So where do I begin? Well, if you happen to be in an empty room right now, you are also sitting in a room with all the f***s that Wesker gives. He does not care at all about the Decepticons and that really pisses them off, especially Airachnid. She's like two clicks away from going full Ramsay Snow on the guy. Wouldn't those two get along great? What's that? He's a human and she's a Decepticon and their from two completely different stories?** _ **I Don't Care! I Ship It!**_ **Let me stop. But at the end of the day, Megatron got what he wanted and now Wesker has a fire lit under his ass. Of course, they couldn't hold him for long and now they're both making their move.**  
 **I admit, a lot of this chapter is mostly fluff between the Autobots and humans, but that's because I wanted to bring a positive energy before I rained hell on the protagonist. Yeah, the moment with Arcee and Jack was padded on but in next chapter, the poor kid is gonna go through some stuff. Also, the bit of shipping between June and Optimus. I hate to say it, but that's pretty much me teasing the shippers out there. Hey, I ship the crap out of those two, but I didn't actually plan on ending that part of the story the way I did. It just felt right for some reason. Unfortunately, it's just a small hint that was born from wishful thinking. You want some sweet but dirty June/Optimus stories, look up the Optimus and June series. (or June and Optimus, I can't remember which, or the name of the author at the moment.)**  
 **So now the Decepticons are at the Autobots front door and Umbrella is sneaking in through the back. The next chapter is going to be no joke. I hate that it's gonna be a while before I can get it up, but I'm going to use that time to make it good.**  
 **Well, if you're still sticking around, I love and appreciate you. I love doing this and you guys are a major reason why. So to all of you I say, auf wiedersehen. (I hope to God I spelled that right.)**


	23. Chapter 23

Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee stood beneath the shadow of the Nemesis. The Decepticon warship hovered menacingly over Outpost Omega One.

"How did they find us?" Arcee asked no one in particular.

"It does not matter, Arcee. What is important now is that they do not reign terror over Jasper or bring harm to any humans. We must do whatever it takes to ensure that the town remains safe."

Optimus put a digit to his helm.

"Ratchet."

 _"Yes, Optimus?"_

"Contact Agent Fowler and inform of what is happening here in Jasper. We will need his help to evacuate the town and prevent human casualties."

Ratchet sighed on the other end.

 _"Primus, I never thought it'd come to this."_

"Neither did I, old friend."

 _"I'll get it done, Optimus. If things get really bad, I know what to do. You be safe out there, Sir."_

"The same for you, Ratchet."

From the top of the ship, the Autobots could see Starscream's Armada descending downward to the ground. The Autobots armed their blasters and prepared for the ensuing battle.

"Autobots, Stand And Fight!"

And with those words, they each began firing on the approaching aerial drones, outnumbered a thousand to one. It was going to be a long day.

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Megatron looked on in amusement as the Autobots engaged what was once Starscream's armada. As he suspected, strength in numbers were their only advantage. Megatron knew better than to think that the drones stood any chance of defeating the enemy faction. But they would exhaust their efforts, making it easier to take them down when they fought them properly.

"Lord Megatron."

Megatron looked to his medic, Knockout.

"Shall I retrieve our human prisoner so he can watch the fruits of his efforts?"

"Not yet, Knockout. I don't believe that Captain Wesker would be interested in watching our enemies fall to our power. However, when they have been brought to their knees, I will begin hunting down his own enemies. I want him to bear witness to the might of the Decepticon army against the paltry human defenses. By the time this battle is won, he _will_ learn to fear Lord Megatron."

"As you wish, my Liege."

Megatron continued to watch the battle unfold. After eons of constant fighting and fruitless battles, he would finally achieve victory over the Autobots, over Optimus Prime."

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Many aerial drones had already landed and begun engaging to Autobots on the ground. Optimus and his team were keeping them at bay well enough with just the four of them. But their lines were getting nearer and soon they would have to fight them at close range.

"Times like this, I wish we still had the Ark." Arcee commented as she blasted through another wave of approaching Vehicons.

"Unfortunately, we will have to make do without it." Optimus Replied. "We have stood against the odds many times in past, we will do so once again."

"Yes, Sir."

As they continued to hold off the armada, a few Umbrella soldiers watched them from a safe distance. They hid atop the adjacent mountains, using tarps of the same color to blend in with their surroundings.

"Captain Wesker, do you read?"

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Wesker and Russell were circling a perimeter set a considerable distance from the base.

"What do you see?" Wesker responded to his subordinate.

 _"The Autobots are engaging Decepticon forces. They seem to holding their own for the moment."_

"Are they fighting an army of faceless enemies, indistinguishable from one another?"

 _"Yes, Sir."_

"Maintain your position."

 _"Sir."_

Wesker leaned back into his seat.

"Cannon fodder, nothing more. We can't make a move until Megatron and his men engage the Autobots themselves. That's when both sides will be distracted enough for us to drop our weapons."

"Sir, what if they use their ground bridge technology to move Jackson before we get there?"

Wesker clenched his fist. The thought had crossed his mind.

"A possibility, Russell, but one we'll have to risk. If the Decepticons spot us attempting to infiltrate the base, they will shoot us and our weapons downs. We must be strategic."

In the distance, Wesker could see beams of light rising from the mountains.

"However, once the B.O.W.s are inside, you must disable the ground bridge and scatter the escape party anyway you can. I will not have Jackson slip away a second time."

"I understand, Sir."

Wesker continued to look at the horizon, trying to imagine the battle that was taking place at this moment.

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"Hyah!" Arcee yelled as she kicked back another Vehicon.

The armada had closed in on the Autobots, forcing them to fight up close and personal. Optimus was cutting them down with his right arm sword and shooting those in the distance with his left blaster. Arcee was putting her martial arts to work with her arm blades and her moves. Bulkhead was knocking any Vehicon that got too close with his wrecking ball, occasionally switching back to his blaster. Bumblebee was still using his wrist blasters, only punching when one of them was right in front of him.

Arcee dashed towards a Vehicon and run up his frame. Spring boarding off his chassis, she kicked another that was right next to him, blasting them both while they were down. She sidestepped her way in between the oncoming blasts, returning fire in kind. A large number of Vehicons were approaching her and she ran for them while keeping up her return fire. One was running right at her but she didn't slow down. When she met up with him, she jumped on his shoulder and launched herself into air, firing on the 'Cons below. She managed to grab onto a passing Vehicon jet and hitched a ride on top of it. The 'Con attempted to shake her off, but she held on tightly and began shifting her weight to throw off its flight. As she did this, she kept firing down at the Vehicon. They returned fire, hitting the 'Con in the wing. Arcee leapt off of it and let it crash into a group of them before going back to blasting whatever she could. Some of the ground Vehicons began speeding towards her in their alt forms. They were closing in fast and blocking out any escapes.

"Bulkhead, I need a hand!" She called.

"I gotcha', 'Cee." He replied.

Bulkhead transformed and started running down Vehicons to get to Arcee. Once he cut a path through them, he transformed just in time the whack a Vehicon that was trying to get the jump on her.

"Thanks, Bulk."

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

Arcee smirked.

"Why not?"

"Heads up, 'Bee." Bulkhead yelled.

Arcee hopped into Bulkheads servo and launched her over the Decepticon army. While she was airborne, she continued to blast at any 'Con in his sights. Bumblebee drove through the horde and Arcee landed on top of him. The scout drove her around while she kept up her firing, running over 'Con after 'Con. He transformed, causing her to jump off, and uppercut a Vehicon on front of him. He shifted his wrist blasters and let off shots on anyone not his allies. Arcee backed into him and they fired back in both directions. Bulkhead drove back to them, running over more Vehicons, and knocked down a few more when he transformed. The three of them blasted, smashed, slashed, and hit any Decepticon stupid enough to try and take them down.

Optimus was standing in the middle of off lined drones. Some shot down, some cut down, and some ripped apart.

"RRRAAAHHH!" He roared as he ran towards a firing drone.

Optimus brought his blade down and cut through its shoulder down to its waist. Several Aerial Drones were approaching, opening fire on him as they drew closer. Optimus dual wielded his blasters and shot down every drone before they could pass him over. However, they all landed in his vicinity and exploded on impact. Several drones looked on at the smoke, hoping that the Prime was taken down. No such luck. Optimus ran through the smoke, unarmed. He punched the first drone right in the spark chamber, drawing his blade then pulling it back. He threw the off lined Vehicon at another before backhanding one behind him. He picked it up and threw it at a group of four running in his direction, knocking them all down. Several blasts from his ranged weapon made sure that they did not get up. Optimus turned around only to be hit in the face by another drone. He stumbled backwards a bit and set his sights on the attacker. His fist went into the drones gut, lifting over the Prime, and slamming it down head first into the ground. Prime's pede went into its chin and knocked its helm right off. He turn around to hook another drone with his left then follow with his right. The Prime grabbed its leg and pulled it out from under, putting the drone on its back. Still holding it by the leg, Optimus brought his pede down on its chassis, crushing its spark chamber. He swung it over and tossed it at another group on Vehicons. Optimus was then tackled to the ground from his side. He grabbed the side of the drone's helm and smashed his own into it. It was knocked off and Optimus kneed it in the gut before punching the side of his face off. Another had tried to run to him with its blaster, but Optimus grabbed the weapon and dislocated its joint with his elbow. Another fired on him, so he threw the armless drone in front of him to take the blast. Before it could fire again, Optimus had his hand on its face. The drone's pedes came off the ground as Optimus sprinted forward, still holding it by the face. He slammed its head into the dirt before lifting him up over his head with both servos. The drone was brought down on Optimus' knee and went offline as his frame was nearly snapped in half. Optimus dropped him on the ground and looked up to the Nemesis. There were still hundreds more Aerial Drones in the air and even more coming from the ship as well as ground drones coming through another ground bridge. Optimus still had a lot of fight left in him, but he knew things could keep up the way they were going.

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Most of the humans were waiting in the main hall with Ratchet. Despite being taken to another area, Jack and the others were back as well, waiting for the fighting to end. The thick walls of the base made it impossible to hear it going on outside, but they could feel the ground shaking beneath them. Jack sat against the wall next to Jill, holding the Key to Vector Sigma tightly and close to his chest.

"They'll be okay...They'll be okay." Jack kept repeating to himself.

"Jack?" Jill questioned.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

Jack had to think about his answer.

"I don't know...I'm...I'm afraid."

This was just like when Jill went to the lower level of the waste disposal plant to take on the Nemesis for the last time, when Jack didn't know if he was going to see her again. Once again, his home was under attack. And even though Arcee and Optimus had gone off on missions plenty of times before, he was scared of losing them, his big sister and his...Jack mentally gasped at what was about to cross his mind.

"Jack..."

The teen looked at Jill.

"You gotta be strong, kid. You gotta have faith in the 'Bots just like you did with me back in Raccoon City. The Autobots are gonna be alright."

Jack took a deep, shaky, breath and nodded his head. But he was still nervous, still uncertain.

June was also scared. Scared for Jack's safety, first and foremost, but also for the Autobots. She prayed that Arcee was doing alright out there. She cared for the femme. After everything she had done for her, for her son, June was indebted to Arcee. She had no desire to lose someone who had become a part of her family. Then she thought of Optimus.

"June, you doin' alright?" Jill asked.

She hadn't noticed what she just did. When Optimus entered her thoughts, June gasped suddenly.

"Y-yeah...I'm fine, mostly." She responded.

"We're gonna get through this guys. You know them better than I do so you know that they won't let us down." Jill said to both Jack and June on either side of her.

"Jill is right." Ratchet responded. "Optimus has led us through the fire more than once. He will do everything to protect his home and his team. He will protect all of you beyond anything else. Of that, I can promise you."

There it was again, a jolt in June's chest when she thought of Optimus Prime. When did this start happening? When did she start thinking about the Autobot leader like this? The more she thought about him, the more scared she was becoming...of him not coming back. She was worried about him fighting his battle and falling. She never did that before, not even for Arcee. She always had such confidence in all of the Autobots, but that was because she never truly understood the seriousness of their battles. But now that it was right outside of her temporary home, it was real to her...and Optimus was right in the heart of it.

"Mom?"

June looked up and saw Jack sitting down in front of her.

"Mom, you're shaking."

She was, or at least her hands were. She was afraid for Optimus' life. But then, she saw the strange artifact around Jack's neck. She didn't know what it was, but she knew that Optimus had given it to Jack during their talk which she was oh so grateful for. That made her think about the talk they had shortly after which led back to when she revealed the truth about Raccoon City. She remembered being held in Optimus' large servo, pressed up against his metal frame, feeling the warmth of his chassis and hearing the strange yet soothing humming sound coming from inside. And just like that, she wasn't shaking anymore. A smile had formed on her face and she looked back at her only son.

"Mom?" He asked.

June took both his hands, one still holding the artifact.

"They'll be fine, Jackson. Optimus will get us through this."

And she believed that with all her heart. But the strange thing was, as calm as she felt right now, her heart was still racing a marathon.

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The fight kept on going and the Autobots were still holding their own. But they were beginning feel the fatigue creeping up on them. Optimus had gone back to keeping the drones at bay with his blasters, knowing that Megatron would show up to face him sooner or later. He was going to need his strength if he hoped to defeat the warlord. Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were engaging the Vehicons any way they could manage it. Arcee was taking on another group at close range, relying on her fighting skills. Bumblebee was blasting away, being sure to keep on optic on Arcee in case she got overwhelmed, and Bulkhead was mashing up Decepticons left and right. At just this moment, he had knocked one into the ground and smashed its helm with his wrecking ball.

"And stay down, 'Con!" He shouted.

The Vehicons had let up for a moment, each of them hesitant to be the next to attack. The three Autobots looked on, daring one of them to make a move.

"Let's go, rust buckets! We ain't got all day!" Bulkhead shouted.

Fate replied with another ground bridge opening to reveal more ground drones and more aerial drones descending.

 **"Come on! Enough, already!"** Bumblebee shouted.

The thinning horde was now reinforced and ready to attack.

"Ugh! This is getting' real old real quick!" Bulkhead.

Before the horde could close in on them, Arcee managed to look around.

"Hey, wasn't Wheeljack with us?"

He was with them, but he disappeared somewhere after they had exited to base without any of them noticing. The drones were getting closer, ready to put the full force of their numbers to work on the Autobots. Optimus had other plans. When one of the descending jets got too close, Optimus jumped up and grabbed onto it. His weight was too much for it to handle and Optimus was able to bring it down and direct its crash at the Vehicons moving forward. The Prime landed in front of the others. Another drone took a swipe at him, only to get punched in the face. Optimus turned it around and used it as a shield as he fired back over its shoulder. Every shot was made to count and Optimus moved forward as he continued to drop 'Cons.

"Whoa, what's got into our head honcho?" Bulkhead asked. "I never seen him fight like this straight out the gate, not unless he was goin' up against Megatron."

They had noticed this early on, Optimus was fighting on another level. No one knew what was going on with the Prime. But it was of little importance. They still had a lot of fighting to do.

"Doesn't matter, Bulk." Arcee answered. "Optimus still needs our help...and our friends are counting on us."

Determination set in as each of the Autobots thought of their human charges. Bulkhead for Miko, Bumblebee for Raf, Arcee for Jack, June, and Jill.

'Huh, just noticed all their names start with J.' She thought. The things that go through the mind in serious situations.

They went at it again, providing back up for Optimus. But then, another wave came down.

"Are you kidding me?!" Arcee shouted.

Before the aerial drones could descend halfway, several missiles came out of nowhere and obliterated them by the chunks.

 **"What the?"** Bumblebee beeped.

 _"Sorry, guys. Thought we might need to Jackhammer but the 'Cons wouldn't let me get to her."_

The Jackhammer came into view and began unloading missiles at the ground forces, thinning them out greatly.

 _"I'll keep the meat of'em off of you guys. You handle the ones that get too close."_

"Jackie, if we were human, I'd kiss you right now." Bulkhead shouted.

 _"Hey, don't give the readers shipping fuel, Bulkhead."_

"Readers?"

"Autobots, you all know what to do. Wheeljack had provided us with support. We cannot let it go to waste."

And so the fighting continued with Jackhammer providing aerial cover. But Optimus knew that it was only a matter of time before the real Decepticon entered the battle.

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Aboard the Nemesis, the Decepticons watched as the Autobots engaged Megatron's disposable army. The warlord looked on closely as Optimus fought with more vigor than he usually would this early into a battle.

"I think we've given them a proper warm up." Megatron said.

He looked to his subordinates who stood and waited for his orders.

"Airachnid, Knockout, Breakdown, be prepared to move out. The time has come to end the Autobots once and for all. Just remember that Optimus Prime is mine."

Megatron looked to Soundwave who activated the ground bridge. The Decepticon leader was the first to walk through, followed by Breakdown and Knockout. Airachnid waited for a moment as she pondered what her next move would be. She was going to take Arcee on, there was no question about that. However, she was not planning to offline her nemesis, not yet. After she defeated Arcee and left her incapacitated, she would head into the Autobot base in search of her favorite human. Once she had Jack, she would bring him and Arcee back to the Nemesis and leave the femme confined for safe keeping. Then she would take Jack to Wesker and find out once and for all if he was the one who cut out his eye. If he was, Airachnid would make him suffer for it. If not, then Jack and Arcee would be in for an extended stay. Either way, she had plans to play with the both of them, Jack more than Arcee. Soundwave looked back at Airachnid, obviously growing impatient with the femme. She smirked in response and began walking through the ground bridge. She couldn't wait to get her claws on her Jack, to get her claws into him. She couldn't wait to torture him in front of Arcee. She couldn't wait to have his head by her berth to look at every night before she powered for recharge. Her spark was jumping with excitement. She couldn't wait one more nano-click.

 _"Just hold on, my Jack."_ She thought, deviously. _"I'm coming for you. And I have a surprise waiting for you when I get you. Just wait for me."_

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The battle raged on, the Autobots on the ground taking on the Vehicons as the Jackhammer provided aerial support and prevented them from being overrun. But Optimus knew that this was just the opening act. The real fight was going to begin any minute. The Prime was proven right when another ground bridge opened up and the Decepticon elites came through, being led by Megatron.

"Megatron." Optimus said darkly.

"Here we are again, Optimus. The last time we fought was in the jungle when your Autobots destroyed my weapon." Megatron replied.

"I remember." Optimus answered back, though he remembered for a very different reason. That was the same night Jackson was taken by Umbrella.

"But our true battle had begun long before then, when you stole from me the right to be a Prime."

"You _never_ had that right, Megatron. Primus knew you were unworthy."

"Well then..." He said as he shifted his sword. "Let us finally see if _you_ are truly the one worthy of being a Prime, Optimus."

Optimus shifted both his blades in response. Bulkhead shifted his wrecking ball while Breakdown shifted his hammer.

"Where's the little loud mouth, Bulkhead? I'd hate for her to miss the beating you're about to take."

Bulkhead felt his anger build, but he kept his cool.

"You better watch it, Breakdown. I ain't in the mood to be listenin' to your run your mouth all day."

Breakdown chuckled in response. Bumblebee stared down Knockout who had armed his energon prod and was ready to use it on the scout. He hadn't shifted his wrist blasters and kept his fists up in a boxing stance. Knockout twirled his weapon around to show off to try and intimidate Bumblebee. He took a battle stance and smirked back at Rafael's guardian. Bumblebee imagined Wesker in his place and was determined to pay him back for all the pain he'd caused. Arcee had both her blades out already, casually walking away from the group with her optics fixed on Airachnid. The femme 'Con stood with her arms cross and her lips pulled to that same smile that Arcee had come to hate. She just knew she had something to say to her.

"So Arcee..."

Yep.

" _Is Jack still alive_?"

"Yes, he is...and you're not going anywhere near him."

Airachnid replied by shifting her spider legs from behind her back.

"We'll see about that."

Arcee went straight for the spider Decepticon, swinging both blades with intense ferocity. Airachnid had used her spider legs to block her attacks, though it was not as easy as it looked for her. One leg struck at Arcee's helm but was blocked and deflected by one of her blades which went straight back for Airachnid's face who barely pulled away in time to evade. Instincts caused a spider leg to move to her face just fast enough to block Arcee's other blade. Airachnid was shocked at how close it came to her, inches away from the other side of her face. Before she could fix her mouth to mock Arcee, said femme's pedes went into Airachnid's midsection and drove the 'Con back. Arcee wasn't letting up either, running after her. Shifting to her spider form, Airachnid jumped over Arcee as she ran closer, putting her behind the Autobot. Arcee turned just fast enough to see dual web lines coming at her. Unable to dodge in time, she brought her forearms to her chassis before the web took hold of her. Arcee dropped on one knee and watched as Airachnid stalked towards her, laughing to herself as she did.

" _I got you, Arcee_." She said sweetly.

Arcee narrowed her optics. Just a little closer.

"Now, let's find Jack, shall we?"

Again, Arcee felt that human vocabulary was needed for this.

"Go to hell."

"Hell?"

With her forearms beneath the webbing, Arcee was able to shift her blades and cut right through them. With her servos free, Arcee grabbed Airachnid by the shoulders, pulled herself into a jump, and drove her knee into Airachnid's upper body. Said 'Con grunted in pain as Arcee's spiked knee left a good dent where it hit. Still holding Airachnid with her left servo, Arcee punched her in the face proper with the right and then brought her elbow back into the opposite side, knocking Airachnid into ground. She looked up with anger in her pink optics, seeing Arcee ready to kick her right in the helm. A spit of acid on leg stopped her just long enough for Airachnid to leap back and began firing on Arcee upon her landing. Arcee responded by back flipping away from blast before leaping into the air and firing down on Airachnid herself. Airachnid moved out of the line of fire in time and shot two more lines of web at Arcee. Both lines caught her by her blasters, bounding the two together.

"Scrap!"

Before she could try to blast the webs, Airachnid moved in very quickly and backhanded Arcee to the ground. She leapt forward to pin her down, but the femme brought her pedes together and used them to hold Airachnid back and launch her away. Arcee got back on her pedes and jumped at Airachnid with her bound servos over her helm. Airachnid caught them above her before Arcee could smash her to the ground. She hels them there as she looked Arcee in her angry optics. A smile formed on Airachnid's face which irked Arcee to no end.

"You know, I really hate that smirk of yours."

"Get used to it, Arcee. It's the last thing you will see before I end you... _after_ you watch Jack choke on his last breath."

Bumblebee managed to stop Knockout's prod mere inches from his face. He saw the electricity cracking at the end of it. Wearing a smug look of satisfaction of his own, Knockout shifted his left servo into buzz saw and attempted to cut through Bumblebee with it. The scout grabbed above his forearm and stopped the blade from touching him, but Knockout was still smirking as they both knew that Bumblebee couldn't stay that way for long. Using quick thinking, Bumblebee forced the saw into Knockout's other arm, forcing him to pull back.

"Ah, you little..."

Knockout examined the mesh wound, clearly more annoyed than hurt because of his damaged finish.

"You'll pay for that, scout."

Bumblebee rushed forward and jabbed at Knockout, but was blocked by the staff part of his prod. Using both servos, Knockout twisted the prod, forcing Bumblebee's servo to the side. Given an opening, Knocking struck Bumblebee's side with the prod, bringing him to his knees. It didn't knock him into stasis lock, but it hurt like the pit. Knockout stood over Bumblebee, as if he had already won.

"And by the way, your paint job is ugly. Yellow and black? What are you, a school bus?"

Knockout drove his prod forward, aiming at the scout's helm, but Bumblebee stopped it again before it could touch him. He pulled it and the Decepticon medic forward, shifting his blaster and putting it against his chassis, and shot the vain doctor backwards and onto the sandy ground. Bumblebee stood up with the energon prod in his hand. He took it and snapped it over his knee. Knockout recovered and saw Bumblebee taking his boxing stance once again. Just like before, he thought about Wesker and all the horrible things he'd done to Jack, to June, to Raccoon City, even to Silas. Knockout must have seen the anger in his optics because he was beginning to look nervous.

"N-now hold on, scout, let's talk about this."

Bumblebee didn't want to talk, so he just moved forward and began wailing on Knockout. Two jabs from his left, a hard jab from his right, his left going for the lower midsection then uppercutting the 'Con doctor with the same servo, right hooking the helm fiercely, knocking his unfortunate opponent down on all fours. Bumblebee grabbed Knockout and pulled him to his pedes by the chassis with one servo. The other balled into a fist and began slugging Knockout's face over and over again until he let go and allowed him to fall back down. Knockout shuffled away from Bumblebee and managed to stand up again. His face was banged up pretty badly, energon leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"What the pit's gotten into you?! I've never done anything to you personally."

Bumblebee tightened his fists.

 **"The way you talk..."**

"The way I talk?" Knockout repeated in a confused toned.

 **"Reminds me of someone I hate."**

"What?! Who could I possibly...?" Knockout stopped as something dawned on him. "Wait, you don't mean..."

Before he could finish, Bumblebee tackled him to the ground and continued pummeling him in the face. Knockout went limp but Bumblebee kept on hitting him, remembering the night he saw Raf crying because of what happened to Jack, the day he saved Jack from Wesker and saw what he'd done to him, the day they all found out what happened in Raccoon City, that night he was kidnapped while they went after the Decepticons. It was because of them that this happened. Because of that stupid weapon, Arcee was called in and away from Jack which allowed Umbrella to take him. They were the reason he was captured. Jack would still have his eye if it weren't for them and Rafael wouldn't be so scared like he is now. Bumblebee brought his fist back to break Knockout's face even further, but stopped when he realized what he was doing. Knockout's face was a mess, a mess that Bumblebee had made. He'd never fought like that before, with such anger and brutality. If Raf had seen him fight the way he did, he would most certainly be afraid of him. The scout's optics bore the gaze of shame as he looked at his servos which had energon on them.

 **"What am I doing?"** He asked himself.

A sharp pain was felt in his side.

 **"Argh!"**

Bumblebee moved away to see Knockout standing up with his drill shifted, now coated with Bumblebee's energon. He looked down and saw a deep hole in his side, leaking precious energon. Bumblebee held his servo over the wound, trying to stop the energon flow. He looked back at Knockout, who didn't look happy in the slightest. Both his buzz saws were armed now.

"You should've finished me when you had the chance, scout."

The Decepticon, who was moving a little slower because of the beating Bumblebee gave him, began walking over to said scout with his two saws spinning. Bumblebee's optic twitched in pain as he held his wound. As Knockout got closer, he shifted his blaster.

Bulkhead was knocked on his back with a dent in his chassis.

 _"You okay there, Bulk?"_ Wheeljack asked through the comm link.

"I'm fine, Jackie. Just a weak dent."

The Wrecker looked on and saw his rival approaching with his hammer armed.

 _"Just say the word, Bulkhead, and I'll land this thing and give you a hand with big boy blue."_

"No, Wheeljack. We need you up there to keep the cannon fodder off of us and away from the base. Don't worry about me. I can handle this Deceptipunk."

Breakdown came to a stop a few feet away from Bulkhead as the latter shifted his wrecking ball.

"What's the matter, Bulk? Can't you fight without your little pet cheering you on?"

Bulkhead smirked though he was far from amused.

"I don't want her to see what I'm about to do ya'."

"What, get energon on all over me after I break you apart? Yeah, I wouldn't want her to see that either. Then again, I really wanna see the look on your face when I step on her."

"Like the pit, you will!"

Bulkhead ran with his wrecking ball pulled back and swung it at Breakdown as hard as he could. Breakdown swung his hammer and the two melee weapons met head on, sending a loud, metallic, bang through the battlefield. Both were thrown back, but Bulkhead ran forward once he came to a stop. Breakdown stopped himself in time to block his descending wrecking ball with the base of his hammer. His free fist knocked the Wrecker in his side twice, allowing him to knock the ball away and swipe Bulkhead in his face which sent him to the ground. He looked behind him and saw the one eyed 'Con raising his hammer, apparently aiming for his leg. Bulkhead flipped onto his back with both blasters and fired each into Breakdown. He was knocked back and Bulkhead took this chance to rush him good. Pulling his pedes off the ground, Bulkhead brought him down and went to punch him in the face. Breakdown deflected the punch and smashed Bulkhead in the face with his hammer again, knocking him off. Breakdown recovered and kicked Bulkhead while he was down, moving him a few feet back.

"Get up, Wrecker. I'm not done with you yet."

Bulkhead seemed too disoriented to hear him, so Breakdown brought his hammer down to make a mess of his chassis. Quickly, Bulkhead shifted his shield and deflected the hammer. Making a quick recovery, Bulkhead struck his fist out and landed in the center of Breakdown's chassis. He followed it up with his other fist in the same area. He shifted his wrecking ball back and struck the area a third time, doubling Breakdown over. He then struck upwards, catching Breakdown in the chin and knocking him into the air. He twisted once before landing on his front side. Breakdown looked behind him and saw Bulkhead still armed with his wrecking ball. He grinned as he wiped the away the energon from his mouth and stood up.

"That's more like it, Bulkhead. Fight like a mech, not some femme."

"Hmph, the one femme I know could kick your sorry aft all the way back to Cybertron."

"Yeah, right."

Bulkhead ran at Breakdown again. When he got close, he jabbed at him with his wrecking ball, though with considerably less speed and force than his previous attack. Breakdown was able to stop the attack with his bare servo.

"What happened, Bulkhead? You lost your metal already?"

Bulkhead responded by shifted his wrecking ball back into a servo while it was still in Breakdown's grasp. He took hold of his servo and brought his arm under Breakdowns. With one swift motion, threw his rival over his shoulder and a good distance away. Breakdown hit the ground hard and looked back at the Wrecker with his single optic stunned.

"The femme I told you about, she taught me that one. Now, let's finish this!" Bulkhead said as he slammed his fist into his servo.

Breakdown got back up and they both ran for each other. When they got close enough, they began exchanging blows. Bulkhead landed a few, but took a few of his own. Breakdown took more than Bulkhead, but was able deflect many of them as well. Bulkhead went to punch Breakdown, but the 'Con blocked his fist and managed trap it under his arm.

"Gotcha' now, Wrecker."

Breakdown shifted his free servo into a blaster began blasting Bulkhead in the chassis. The Wrecker grunted in pain from each blast. Breakdown kept hold of Bulkhead's arm and shifted his blaster to his hammer. He raised it high and slammed it on top on Bulkhead's helm. He was hit so hard that he was knocked free of Breakdown's hold.

"That had to hurt."

Bulkhead groaned in pain as his looked up at Breakdown. Energon was leaking from the top of his helm. Breakdown held his hammer outward, intending to whack Bulkhead across the face.

"Lights out, Bulkhead."

With that, he knocked the Wrecker straight into stasis. Before he could deal the death blow, he caught sight of a missile heading in his direction. Breakdown moved out of its path, allowing it to destroy an unlucky group of Vehicons. The Jackhammer descended in front of Breakdown, causing him to move away from Bulkhead. The Wrecker was able to come out of stasis and pick himself back up. The Jackhammer's platform descended and Bulkhead slowly made his way onto it. He was lifted into the ship and met with Wheeljack who held him up before he could fall back down.

"Jackie." Bulkhead weakly.

"Easy, Bulk. I gotcha'." Wheeljack said as he led his friend to the control console.

Bulkhead was seated down as Wheeljack went for his repair kit. He cast a look at Breakdown who was staring up at the Jackhammer in pure contempt. Wheeljack quickly patched up Bulkhead's wound as best he could and supplied him with energon rations to remedy the amount lost from his injury.

"Can you man the controls, Bulk?"

"I've watched you do it a couple times before."

"Good, you keep overwatch. I'll handle cyclops down there."

"He wants to hurt Miko, Wheeljack. Don't let'em."

"I won't, Bulk. I'll break that 'Con's servos if he even thinks about it."

Wheeljack walked over to the platform and descended back onto the battlefield. The Jackhammer ascended back into the air to keep the Vehicons at bay. Wheeljack drew both swords and stared down the one eyed Decepticon.

"So, Bulkhead went and got his sparkmate to fight his battle. Gotta say, I'm disappointed."

Wheeljack narrowed his optics.

"You threatened my girl, Miko."

His mouth plate slid shut.

"That's gonna cost you, chump."

Optimus and Megatron ran straight into each other, slamming their swords together and locking them tightly. Their optics burned holes in one another as eons of pain, betrayal, anger, and death looked into each other.

"It's ends here, Optimus. I've found your base, your sanctuary. Once it falls, you will have nowhere to hide from me."

"I never hid from _you_ , Megatron. I hid from humanity, to protect them from our war, from your destruction."

Megatron forced Optimus back and the two stood facing each other with their swords still drawn.

"Your compassion for these lower beings makes you weak. They deserve to be conquered, not watched over."

"And that is why you are unworthy of being a Prime."

Megatron went back for Optimus, swinging his sword with ferocity.

"When I cut you down, Primus will see that **you** were a mistake."

Optimus dodged all of Megatron's slashes, blocking the last one that was to come down on top of him with his blade.

"My downfall may prove me to be unworthy, but it will not grant you the right to be a Prime."

Optimus swiped Megatron's sword away and slashed at his chassis. The warlord backed away just quick enough to receive a minor scratch. But for a gladiator like him, such a scratch was unacceptable. The two went back at it, Optimus keeping his distance since Megatron had a farther reach with his weapon. He stabbed at Optimus who managed to grab at his wrist before the blade got close to him. Lifting Megatron's sword over his head and exposing his midsection, Optimus took a few shots with his free blaster at close range. Freeing himself from the Prime's grasp, Megatron back away hunched over. His rage was building with each missed strike from himself and every landed blow from Optimus.

"I will cut the Matrix of Leadership from your frame!"

Megatron ignored his injuries and went at it once again. The two warriors clashed their blades over and over, exchanging blows from their fists every so often. The sparks from their swords were balls of fire to any human, hitting the sand and burning for a moment or two before going out. The sounds of their weapons rang through the battlefield for everyone to hear. Megatron had only fought so viciously in the arena. The two titans did not let up. By now, the edges of their swords were chipping away. The two stood apart from one another, each catching their breaths from their duel. Optimus was becoming exhausted, but so was Megatron. Rage was driving him, however, and he would not allow Optimus to defeat him once again. With a battle cry reserved only for his sworn enemy, Megatron charged at Optimus with his sword pulled back. The Prime stood straight and braced himself for the oncoming attack. As he was about to be within reach of Optimus, Megatron came off the ground and with all his strength, drove his sword straight at Optimus as he was still in the air. Instinctively, Optimus moved quickly and caught the blade with his bare servo. Megatron's pedes were back on the ground and he immediately began trying to push the blade further. Optimus held it back with all his strength, feeling it cut through his servo. The tip of the blade was almost close enough to touch point where both sides of his faceplate came together. Optimus noticed the wicked smirk on Megatron's face and realized that he was up to something. Without warning, he rotated his sword arm, bringing his fusion cannon right before Optimus. He let go of the blade and ducked under it as fast as he could. But even though only the top part of his helm was caught by the energon blast, it was enough to through him back in a daze of intense pain. When he hit the ground, the top right side of his helm down to his right optic was smoking. Optimus groaned as he struggled to recover. Megatron stalked towards him with smoke still coming from his cannon.

"I did not survive battle after battle in Kaon by fighting with honor, Optimus. This is war."

Megatron raised his cannon to finish Optimus for good.

"It was because of your honor that Primus chose you. I want you to tell him that it led to your demise."

Megatron took his sweet time powering up his fusion cannon, most certainly in arrogance and to torment Optimus. It was what he was counting on. Even with his injury, Optimus strength had returned much faster than he let on. As quick as he could, he shifted his blaster and fired at Megatron's cannon. His aim was off because of his injury, but he had caught it just enough to expose the side. With the energy from his charging blast now leaking from the side, Megatron quickly ejected it off of his arm to dispose of it. But just as it detached, it exploded, catching his sword arm in the process. A thin cloud of smoke obscured him for just a moment and Optimus was able to stand back up. Once the smoke cleared, he saw that Megatron's arm, while still functional, was badly damaged. He bared his razor sharp teeth in anger and Optimus shifted his blades back. Both of them were injured but not defeated.

Two spider legs came down and nearly pierced through Arcee's shoulders, forcing her on one knee. The femme looked defiantly up at Airachnid who looked down on her in pure malice.

"Arcee, I feel like the spark between us is beginning to fade."

Arcee forced them away and stood back up.

"Your attacks aren't as vicious today and you have yet to swear revenge for what happened to poor Tailgate."

Arcee felt herself get angry at this glitch daring to say his name, but she remembered what she said to Jack just yesterday.

"Where's that rage that drives you to end me?"

"This isn't about Tailgate anymore, Airachnid. This is about protecting those I care about?"

"You mean, my Jack?"

"No, I mean _my_ Jack."

" _Yours_?"

"That right, mine. Jack is my partner, my friend. He isn't your plaything and he will not be your new trophy. Make no mistake, you're gonna pay for what you did to Tailgate and Starscream will pay for Cliffjumper, one way or another. But I'm not gonna let you use that against me anymore, Airachnid. I'm gonna protect Jack from you and anyone else who wants him."

Airachnid narrowed her optics at Arcee. It annoyed her to see her enemy look back without the hatred that she always found amusing. She needed to bring the old Arcee back.

"But you've already failed to protect him, haven't you? You couldn't protect him from Umbrella. That's why he lost his eye."

Arcee didn't take the bait.

"Talk all you want. I'm through letting you mess with my head. I'm taking you down once and for all. Then, Umbrella's next."

Arcee armed her blasters and was prepared to shoot. The sound of Airachnid's laughter made her hesitate.

"What's so funny?"

Airachnid kept laughing before slowing to a stop.

"You are, my dear Arcee. You don't even realize that you've already failed."

Arcee bared her teeth.

"What are talking about?"

"Umbrella, you failed to protect Jack from them twice now."

Arcee only stared in confusion.

"Albert Wesker, sound familiar?"

Arcee's optics widened at the mention of his name.

"How do you..."

"Nothing escapes Soundwave. How do you think we found your base? Wesker was already on his way here when we picked him up. Imagine if we hadn't intervened."

Arcee lowered her blasters as Airachnid continued to mock her.

"He's currently aboard the Nemesis being held prisoner and after I'm done with you, I _will_ be taking Jack with me. He'll tell me if Wesker was the one that did that to him and I will make sure that he never hurts him again."

Arcee's blasters had already shifted back as she remained in a state of shock.

"So you see, my little two wheeler, I have already succeeded where you failed. It appears that I'm better at protecting Jack than you are. So I'll tell you what, after I snuff out your spark, I won't harm a hair on Jack's pretty little head. I'll let the boy live _as my pet_. And I promise that I will take far better care of him than you Autobots ever did."

Arcee was now looking down, seemingly broken. Airachnid took her spider form and slowly walked over to the defeated femme. Except, Arcee was smiling beneath her posture.

"Thank you..."

Her smile disappeared as confusion set in.

"For finding that monster for us, Airachnid."

Quicker than Airachnid could follow, Arcee crouched down back flipped away from her, kicking her right in the chin in the process. Once she landed back on her pedes, Arcee rushed Airachnid with a series of punches, elbows, and opened palmed strikes. When given enough distance, the SIC hard kicked the scavenger with enough strength to send her flying back. Airachnid dug her legs into the ground and brought herself to a stop, only to be struck in her shoulder and torso from five energon blast. Two of her legs gave out beneath her. Arcee stood across from her with her blaster fixed in her direction.

"Because once I'm finished with you, _I'll_ take care of Wesker myself."

The multiple battles continued on, the Umbrella agents watching closely. It seemed like the two opposing sides were focused on one another close enough for them to make their move.

"Sir, the Decepticons are still engaging the Autobots. Do you want us to move now?" One agent asked.

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"Do have visual on the following two Decepticons?" Wesker responded. "A large one, gun metal grey color, fitted with a large weapon."

 _"I have visual, Sir. He's currently engaging the leader of the Autobots."_

"The next is a dark one, black and purple in color. She appears to be female."

 _"I have visual on her as well. She's fighting another female, cobalt blue."_

With Airachnid and Megatron preoccupied, the time to set the plan in motion had come.

"Release the B.O.W.s on the top of the mesa. We will join you shortly."

 _"Yes, Sir."_

Wesker then turned to Russell.

"The ground bridge will most likely be a large mechanism. If you see them standing by, scatter them. Thin them out by cutting them down and cover all exits, but do not attack the boy. If he runs, let him. The G-mutation will find him. We will move in once their numbers have dwindled."

A scowl formed upon Wesker's face.

"And if you see any of the former members of S.T.A.R.S...kill them where they stand."

"Absolutely, Sir." Russell responded.

Wesker's trusted companion focused his mind as he took control of the other B.O.W.s. He felt their bloodlust and desire to spread the infection give way to his command. He took control of the Plagas inside of them and calmed them as they waited to be released. Doing so was not easy, however. Russell could feel his body straining from the dominant Plaga inside of him.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The choppers approached from behind the mesa, seemingly unnoticed from either Autobots or Decepticons. A few remained behind as the rest hovered over the top of the mesa where the landing strip and elevator entrance were. The containers were released and allowed to fall down onto the mesa. Once they landed, the containers were unsealed, releasing trapped smoke from inside. They broke apart, revealing the creatures packed tightly inside of them. They looked like the Gamma Hunters from Wesker's previous attack on the Autobots, except they were more grotesquely mutated. Their bodies appeared disfigured and they had red tumor like growths covering the top of their heads and backs. These were Hunter Betas, Umbrella Europe's clone of William Birkin's original creation.

Through their eyes, Russell took notice of the elevator. It appeared that they had not yet locked down the base, most likely to allow the Autobots to return. Russell commanded the Hunters to enter the base through the elevator. They began forcing the door open and climbing down the shaft that led into the main hall of Outpost Omega One.

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Jack waited at bottom of the stairs under the platform. June was waiting by the medical area, seemingly distracted with something on her mind. Jack didn't inquire. Raf and Miko were keeping busy on the former's laptop. They had to keep their mind off of what was happening outside somehow. Ratchet, Jill, Chris, and everyone else were on guard, waiting for the battle to come to them. Jack hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

He looked down the tunnel that led outside. He just knew that Airachnid was out there, eager to get in and get her claws on him. But he knew that Arcee wouldn't let that happen. If by some chance Airachnid did get past her, he knew that Optimus would stop her anyway.

Jack's became stuck on Optimus when he remembered his earlier thoughts of the Prime. He still didn't know where that came from. Did he really think of Optimus like that? He looked at him the way he used to look at his...

A sound came from inside the elevator which caught everyone's attention. Ratchet focused on the entrance as he heard the same sounds of scratching and shuffling again. They were too small to be Cybertronian. Just then, a familiar cry echoed through the hall. The agents recognized it, as did Jack and June. Jack held the Key to Vector Sigma tightly. This was going to be the first B.O.W. he'd seen since Raccoon City.

Ratchet armed his scalpels. Jill, Chris, and the others armed their guns. Rebecca ran for Miko and Raf, standing in front of them. Jill grabbed June and pulled her to Jack. She handed June a pistol while Chris tossed one down to Jack from above the platform. Jack couldn't keep his hand from shaking, remembering his poor aim from before. June was scared too, wishing that Optimus was there. Miko and Rafael hid behind Rebecca, terrified of what was to come. Finally, it did.

Breaking through the measly wire barrier of the elevator, a single Hunter Beta leaped out. It looked on at the beings before it and let out another cry as several more followed behind it, pouring into the base.

"June, Jack, Run!" Jill yelled as hell broke loose.

The creatures left of the platform, setting their sights on whatever human was within their reach. As June pulled Jackson away, he remembered the same creatures chasing the three of them back in Raccoon City. It was happening again. The nightmare had returned.

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 **For thousands of years, I lay dormant. Who has disturbed my…..Ah, screw it. What's up, guys? I'm back.**

 **-Proceeds to get on knees and grovel.-**

 **I am terribly sorry for the long hiatus and I am terribly-er sorry-er for the laughable amount of chapters I finished during that time. See, here's the thing. After my last chapter upload, I had started my new job, which was far more physically demanding than any job I ever had. Couple the exhaustion of my word days with overtime and I ended up going days and even a week or two without writing. Because of this…..I've only gotten five chapters from both stories finished, including this one. Ten is not a lot, I know. However, I'm back now with a new, admittedly crappier, internet connection. So I have access to and to all of you. Workload is still gonna slow down my production, but I'm gonna try to keep my updates to at least once a week. I can't promise I won't miss a date, but I will try not to. As for the stories I have now, I will be uploading one chapter every other day, alternating between the Old Nightmare and A Shard of Glass. Thank you all so much for your patience.**

 **So, not a lot to say about this chapter. The focus is primarily on the Autobots battling the Decepticons and because of this, is a bit longer than most of the chapters. When I first started writing this chapter, I had totally forgot about Wheeljack and just hand waved his absence from the first half because I didn't want to rewrite what I had already done. I hope Bumblebee's little freak out doesn't come off as odd. The Autobots have been affected by Umbrella as well and I just wanted one of them to act out because of it. Also, threw in a few more teases toward OptimusXJune. Got some JackSon of Prime in there, too. Next Old Nightmare will be up on Thursday, but A Shard of Glass will be updated on Tuesday. Again, I am sorry for the long absence and hope I didn't lose any readers. Well, it feels good to be back. Love you guys.**


	24. Chapter 24

Back in Raccoon City, the night of the outbreak, Jack and his mother had seen all manner of monstrosities. Zombies, undead dogs known as Cerberus, mutated flea creatures who June decided the name Brain Suckers, and of course, Jack couldn't forget The Nemesis. But if there was one creature that scared him almost as much as that leather clad behemoth, it was the Hunter. The only way to describe them was pure nightmare fuel, from their hideous bodies to their terrifying shrieks. When Jack saw one of them decapitate a zombie in the lobby of the hospital where June had found the T-Vaccine, he knew they were bad news. And just as they had in many of his nightmares since that incident, here they were again, chasing after him and his mother.

Just as Jill had told them to, Jack and June ran down the hallway as fast as they could. They turned corner after corner until the sounds of screeching, screaming, and gunfire had faded in the distance. The two came to an empty room meant for any additional Autobots who might've came to Earth in the future. They hid behind the wall, June's protective instincts keeping Jack behind her as she peeked outside.

Jack was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Even when Umbrella came back for him, he never thought it would come back to this, to running from these demons again. But it was just as it was before and the fear he felt at this moment was all too familiar. He was older now, but no more prepared than he was six years ago, even with the gun in his hand. He could barely hold on to it, unable to keep his hands steady. He could feel it slipping from his grip every other moment. Trigger discipline was the only thing keeping him from accidently firing it off.

 _In, out, in, out, in, out._

Years of panic attacks taught him how to get through them with breathing exercises. It worked when he escaped Raccoon City, it worked after meeting the Autobots, and it could work now.

 _In, out, in, out, in out..._

It wasn't working...Because it wasn't in the past, it wasn't in his head, it was just around the corner and very, very _,_ real.

June kept peeking over the wall, shaken up as Jack was, but still able to control it better. She was like this back then as well...because of Jack. She had to protect him so she had to be strong. Jack envied her for that. But he wasn't like her. He had no one to protect. He was the one who needed to be protected. He wasn't like June, or Jill, or Arcee, or Optim...

Jacks eyes went wide with realization. Suddenly, he felt like an idiot. He looked down at his shirt and stared at Optimus' gift, the Key to Vector Sigma. This was a symbol of Jack's status as a Prime, a token of Optimus' trust in him. How could he wear it while he doubted himself this way? How could he let fear paralyze him as if he were a child again?

Jack was able to calm him hands enough to hold his gun with only one. The other held the Key in his palm, bringing it closer to his face. If he had any right to have it, he needed to man up. He couldn't let himself die here, not when he had a role to play in this whole nightmare. And he had to protect his mother just as she had for him back then. He had to protect Raf and Miko...Raf and Miko.

"Jack?" June called for her son.

June's voice did eventually reach Jack, pulling him from his thoughts and feeling a sense of urgency.

"Raf, Miko!" He yelled as he turned to his mother. "We have to find them!"

They weren't her kids, but June was just as protective of them as she was Jack. She mentally yelled at herself for not grabbing them when she ran.

"We will. I will."

"Mom, I'm not letting go out there by yourself."

"I'm not letting you go out there at all, Jackson. You're staying here where it's safe."

"Unless we get rid of those things, nowhere is safe in this place. And the longer we're all separated like this, the less safe it becomes. We need to find them and we stand a better chance if we stick together."

"Jackson..."

June was cut off by the sound of a shrieking Hunter followed by sounds of gunfire. The rapidness of it telling of an automatic rifle. Even though Jack was trying to stay strong, the fear he was feeling a moment ago came back just as quickly. Though it wasn't paralyzing him as it was before, he was still as scared as he had ever been. June made a hand gesture that told Jack to stay put while she checked outside. The harsh look that came with it left no room for argument. June cautiously approached the doorway, finger held over the trigger of the USP compact that Jill had given her. Jack too gripped his weapon tightly, a sub-compact Glock 27. It was a higher caliber than anything he had fired before and he had never used a gun except to practice. Jack felt unprepared for what was coming. The only thing keeping him from losing his senses was that however ready he wasn't for this whole thing, Raf and Miko were even less so. He needed to find them, to protect them as he had with the Decepticons. He couldn't let them fall victim to Umbrella like he had.

June braced herself and quickly jumped out into the hallway with her weapon raised. She ended up face to face with the barrel of an M4, Jill on the other end. Both quickly lowered their weapons and exhaled in relief.

"Jill."

"June."

They embraced each other, each extremely grateful the other was okay. Jack stepped out and saw his mother and protector as they ended their hug, also relieved that it was Jill. Before she could acknowledge him, he saw a dead Hunter on the ground riddled with bullet holes.

"Jack?" Jill called. "Are you okay?"

Jack couldn't take his eyes off of the Hunter, taking note of how many holes it had in its body, how many bullets Jill had to put in it before it died...and the base was swarming with them.

"Jack." Jill called a little louder.

"Where's Raf and Miko?" He asked nervously.

Jill's expression wasn't regretful or grim, which was a good sign. But it wasn't of relief either, which wasn't good.

"We got separated on the way down. The Hunters cut us off and forced us down different halls."

Both Jack and June looked at Jill with fear.

"Please, tell me they're not alone." June desperately asked.

Jill shook her head.

"No, Chris and Rebecca were with us. They went with the Miko and Raf while I came down this way to look for you."

Once again, Jack and June looked relieved.

"Listen, we can't hold up in here forever." Jill began. "You guys remember these things and you know that there's few places they can't get into. We need to meet up with Chris and others and figure out what the hell we're gonna do."

"How're we gonna do that?" June asked. "We've got three pistols between us and I remember how many bullets those things took before they went down."

"We left caches of weapons and ammo scattered throughout the base. If I remember, there's one a little further down the hall. We stock up on guns and bullets and we do it the same way we did in Raccoon City."

Jill said that and immediately regretted it when she got a good look at Jack. His nerves were fried and it was too easy to see. Jill was use to this, but he and his mother weren't.

"Jack."

Jack looked at Jill when she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, I know you're scared right now and I don't blame you at all. I never wanted for you and June to have to deal with this again. But we're gonna get through this, just like before. You toughed it out back then, I know you can do it one more time. Miko and Raf need you, Jack."

Jack looked down a bit and took several deep breaths to calm himself down. He gripped the Key tightly in his hand as he closed his eyes and took one more deep breath and let it back out.

"You with me, Jackson?"

Jack nodded.

"Still my little brave one. Come on, let's go find our friends."

The trio prepared to head for one of the caches in the base, Jill taking point and leading the pack. As he and June waited for Jill let them know the outside was safe, Jack took this moment to lift up his sleeve and look at his old scar. He still remembered the pain of it, even after feeling a far worse pain at Wesker's hands. Fear was driving his actions now, but not for himself. It was fear for his mother, for Rafael, for Miko. Whatever it took, he had to make sure that they would never feel the pain he felt in either instance. Umbrella had taken his home from him, his eye, his peace of mind. They were not going to take his family away from him and he wasn't going to let his absolute fear keep him from protecting them. Jill never let it hold her back, neither did Arcee, and Optimus most certainly did not...and neither will he.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 _Pow, Pow, Pow_

 _Shrieking_

 _Pow, Pow, Pow_

 _Snarling_

 _Pow_

Chris stood front and center and he fired round after round at the approaching B.O.W.s, making sure that every shot hit them in the head, despite them being able to withstand multiple headshots. One of them leaped at him, returning the favor and going for _his_ head. A veteran at this game, Chris easily stepped out of its way. But in doing that, it put it right in front of Rebecca and the kids.

"Rebecca!" Chris cried out, unable to turn his back to the other Hunters in front of him.

"Stay back, you two!" Rebecca yelled to a terrified Raf and Miko.

Pulling out her Samurai Edge Berretta, which was armed with 9mm ammo, she began firing the lower caliber weapon into the head of the approaching Hunter. Each round stopped its approach for the slightest of moments, but it hardly slowed it down. Rebecca's gun would go dry before the Hunter would go down. Halfway between where it landed behind Chris and where she was standing, it jumped at her. Moving out of the way wasn't an option because it would land in front of the children and she only had four bullets left in her guns which would do nothing to stop it. So instead, she stood where she was and braced herself.

"No!" Raf cried as Miko covered his head.

"Rebecca!" Chris yelled as he looked over his shoulder.

Neither cry caused Agent Chambers to falter as the Hunter descended upon her. Before it could land, however, Rebecca charged at it with her small frame. Despite her size, she was able to stop it in midair and tackle it to the ground. Of course, she knew she wasn't strong enough to hold it down for but a moment and as she tried to do so, the Hunter flailed its claws about as they tended to do when they were on their backs. Rebecca reached for her knife and buried it into the disgusting red growths in the monster's head. It let out a deafening wail, but it was far from dead. The knife weakened it enough for Rebecca to look behind her and see Miko and Raf frozen with fear.

"Miko, Raf, run for it!"

As she yelled that while looking over her shoulder, the Hunter managed to get a good swipe at her face. Rafael gasped as his pupils shrank in horror. Miko muffled a scream with her hands when she saw a splash of blood hit the floor. Without needing to think about it, she grabbed Raf and ran down the hall to the nearest room. She pulled him in and put him behind the wall of the entrance. She was gasping for air now, clearly horrified by what just happened. She was trying to calm herself down, but all she could think about was how badly she wished Bulkhead was there.

"Miko." Raf's trembling voice weakly said. "R-Rebecca, Rebecca's..." Raf couldn't even finish his sentence, he was so scared.

Miko knelt down and held Raf to her chest in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's gonna be okay, Raf. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay."

She sounded borderline hysterical, clearing believing that it wasn't going to be okay as she kept telling Raf/herself.

"Miko, is Rebecca..."

"No! She's fine. Chris is fine. There's gonna stop those monsters, you'll see."

"But they're still coming...They're gonna come in here."

Miko was scared. Raf was scared which made her even more scared...And she didn't know what to do. He was right, Chris and Rebecca couldn't stop all of them and they were about the swarm the room any minute. As scared as she was, she needed to do something. She really wished Jack was with them right now. He would know what to do.

Miko looked around the room and realized where they were. The storage room had been repurposed into an armory of sorts, which is where they were heading to anyway. Miko had never fired a gun before. After Bulkhead caught her with Jill's pistol, she didn't dare try to get a hold of another one. But it was do or die time, kill or be killed. She had to woman up and protect Raf just like Jack would.

Miko looked around for the first handgun to catch her eye. Sitting on a small table inside of an opened gun case, Miko caught sight of one. It was a revolver, big and stainless. The barrel was fairly long and had the words "Raging Bull" on the side of it. Miko picked it up and checked to see if it was loaded. She may not have been a gun expert, but she'd seen enough Walking Dead to know to check a gun before using it. It wasn't loaded, but there were several bullets beside it that looked to be the right size for the six empty chambers. Miko began loading the revolver as fast as she could, fumbling with a few of the rounds. Raf was beginning to worry about what she was thinking.

"Miko, what are you gonna do?" He asked nervously.

Miko finished loading and shut the cylinder. She walked up to Raf with the gun in her hand, looking him in his frightened eyes.

"Raf, you gotta hide. I don't know where, just find somewhere safe and don't make a sound."

Rafael grabbed Miko's arm.

"Miko, don't." He pleaded.

"I have to, Raf. Look, just...just run and find a safe spot like I told you."

Raf tried to grab Miko again, but she didn't let him. As she waited by the entrance, scared out of her mind, she looked back at Raf, who's tear stained face was begging her to stay with him. Miko was fighting tears herself, knowing that this could be it for her.

"I love you, Raf. I love Jack, too. If you see him again, tell him I said that, okay?"

" _Miko._ " Raf cried.

Miko inhaled and ran out into the hallway with her gun raised, Raf holding his hand out to stop her somehow. But what she saw wasn't a Hunter, it was Rebecca, now sporting a painful looking set of claw marks on the side of her face.

"Becca?" Miko's strained voice squeaked.

Before anything else could be said, Rebecca snatched the revolver from Miko's hands and turned to face the Hunter still chasing her. Before it could come any closer, Rebecca wasted no time in filling its ugly face in with a .44 caliber round. But with the force of the recoil, coupled with her injuries, Rebecca fell back on her rear. With just one bullet, the Hunter was thrown onto its back and stopped moving. It was dead. Rebecca was able to sit up and aim her gun at the still Hunter, making _sure_ that it was dead. After a few moments of it remaining motionless, she had her kill confirmed. Agent Chambers exhaled in relief, only to thrown back onto the floor from the weight of Miko's hug. She grimaced from her clawed sides which Miko did not notice, but ignored them as the Japanese teen sobbed into her shoulder. Rebecca placed her hand on Miko's head, comforting as best she could.

But approaching footsteps and more snarls were heard down the hall as the two looked up and saw Chris with about six hunters behind him. He saw Rebecca and Miko on the ground and quickly turned to hold the Hunters at bay. Miko helped Rebecca to her feet, noticing the bleeding claw marks on her arms and side.

Chris continued to fire at the Hunters, but then his pistol went dry. Rebecca took aim with her Taurus as Miko stood behind her.

"Chris, get down!"

Redfield did as ordered while Rebecca made sure she had a firm stance. Miko grabbed her from behind, something she'd seen in some low budget zombie movie, hoping to keep her from falling down again. Rebecca fired one round into the closest Hunter, putting it down permanently. Then, she fired into the next with the same results. She fired a third and took out a third. Each shot caused her to grit her teeth in pain, Miko tightening her grip in an effort to keep her steady. She fired the fourth round and took out a fourth Hunter. Chris was already by her side when she fired her last round and killed another. But that left one more coming for them very quickly. Rebecca stood in front of Miko protectively, who didn't dare to let go of her.

Suddenly, Chris appeared in front of them with a pump action shotgun. The Hunter was just within claws reach before a 12 gauge shell made green and red mincemeat out of the beast. Chris ejected the spent shell and held his position, listening for any more approaching Hunters. It was silent down the corridor, far enough to be unable to hear the battle in the main hall. It was safe for now.

Chris turned to see Rebecca holding Miko close to her. He looked at the doorway where Raf was standing, just coming down from his panic.

"Thanks, Raf." He said to the young boy. He had been the one who gave Chris the shotgun he was holding.

Raf didn't respond, still badly shaken up. Then he looked at Miko who smiled at him, only to be met with an unhappy look and his back being turned to her. Miko lifted her hand and went to call for Raf but stopped herself in defeat. Seeing the two interact made Rebecca worry, but Chris was more concerned with her injuries.

"C'mon, Rebecca. Let's get those wounds looked at. We don't know how long we have before more show up."

Chris helped Rebecca into the room and sat her down by a table while he searched for medical supplies. Raf had taken a seat by the far wall, sulking to himself. Miko knew why he was mad her. In hindsight, it was stupid to leave him by himself. But she was afraid, afraid for him. She wanted to protect him and that was the only way she thought she could. He had to understand that...right?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Chris was tending to Rebecca's injuries, now working on her face. He'd hoped the herbs he was using would heal it enough to not leave a scar. These little green plants worked wonders for scarring. It was such a painful looking wound, going from below her jaw, up her cheek, and to her temple. Thankfully, he'd managed to stop the bleeding with a mixture of red and green herbs. Her arms and side weren't so simple. He required a specially made first aid spray for those and ended up going through a whole can. The injuries weren't healed by a long shot, but the spray stopped the bleeding and subsided the pain enough that Rebecca could still move around almost as much as before, at least until they could get out of the base. Chris finished applying the grounded up herb to the gashes on Rebecca's face and began bandaging it up. Normally, it'd be her tending to their wounds like this. Then again, they'd never been attacked in their base before. Both were avoiding the question of how a swarm of B.O.W.s managed to get into Outpost Omega One, ignoring the obvious answer that it had something to do with Wesker. They also ignored the obvious probability that this happening during a Decepticon attack was no coincidence.

"Alright, patched you up best I could." Chris said as he stood up. "Let's find you some armor, gear up and find the others."

Rebecca nodded in response, but most of her attention was on Rafael, who was packing up as much medical supplies into a bag as he could. The way he was avoiding everyone was worrisome to her. Rebecca always had a soft spot in her heart for children. She looked at Miko, who was gathering ammo for them. She was shying away from everyone as well, though it appeared to be more out of shame than anything else. Rebecca didn't like seeing them this way and decided to do something about it.

She walked over to Raf and crouched down behind him. Raf looked at her for a moment before going back to his packing.

"I-I'm almost done."

"Its fine, Raf. You're doing good."

Every so often, Raf would sniff back from his crying earlier. It really saddened her to see such a young boy get caught up in Umbrella's actions. And to think, Jack was even younger when he'd gone through this.

"You okay?"

Raf sniffed again and paused before answering.

"No."

"Scared?"

"...Yeah."

He wasn't looking at her as he answered.

"I know...So am I. But me and Chris, we've been through worse. I know it looks bad, but we're gonna get out of this, I promise. You, Miko, and Jack are gonna be okay."

Raf tensed up when Rebecca said Miko's name. Rebecca noticed this.

"Why are you so mad Miko, Raf?"

Raf wiped at his nose before looking up at Rebecca.

"Because she was just gonna leave me."

Rebecca took a moment to think about what Raf was telling her. When she ran out with that revolver, it was to take on the Hunter chasing them herself and not for Rebecca to do it for her.

"Raf...Miko was just trying to protect you."

"But what if she'd gotten killed? What would I have done then, huh? I would've been all by myself and she'd be..."

Raf was breathing heavier now.

"She'd be gone...forever."

Miko stopped what she was doing to look back at Raf, feeling more and more guilty about what she had almost done.

"What if 'hick' What if she turned and I was the only one to..."

"Rafael." Rebecca said sadly.

"I don't want to kill my friend...I don't want to see her become a zombie."

Rebecca wanted to cry herself along with Raf. She knew exactly what it felt like to feel the fear he was feeling right now. She hugged Raf tightly as he let go of his pent up frustration of this whole situation. Miko just looked on, still filled with guilt. She never wanted to scare Raf like this, to make him this upset. She looked away in shame, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from crying. Then, she felt Chris' hand on her shoulder and she looked up at the scruffy agent. He said nothing, but his look said that he understood why she did what she did. Miko calmed herself and looked back at Raf. She walked over him to try and apologize for her actions. But when she stood in front of him, she couldn't find a way to speak to him.

"R-Raf, I..."

Raf let go of Rebecca and grabbed onto Miko's waist, his face in her stomach.

"We're getting out of here together." he sobbed. "So, don't **ever** do that again. Promise me you won't."

Miko knelt down and held her little friend as tightly as she could.

"I won't, Raf, I promise. I won't leave you again."

Rebecca smiled and looked at Chris who smiled back. The two went back to gathering their weapons, leaving the children in their embrace.

"And I love you too, Miko."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Still a distance from where it was all going down, Wesker and Russell were waiting in their chopper. Russell was still controlling the Hunters as best he could, clearly having a difficult time of it. Wesker saw that his nose was beginning to bleed and the veins in his eyes were becoming more noticeable.

"Russell." Wesker called.

"Please, Captain, I must concentrate."

"Russell, you're going to kill yourself."

"I can do this, Captain Wesker. I almost had two S.T.A.R.S. officers right where I wanted them."

Wesker admired Russell's determination, along with his loyalty, but he was no good to him dead. He still needed him to control the G-Mutation.

"Forget about S.T.A.R.S. Russell. Just make sure that the boy and the mother remain unharmed and the ground bridge can no longer function. Let the rest run free and slaughter whomever they desire."

Wesker's order was a welcomed relief to Russell. He released his hold over the Hunters, leaving them with one command to leave Jackson and June be. Letting them go allowed some strength to return to Wesker's exhausted right hand.

"The Hunters are making short work of the B.S.A.A." He said as he tried to catch his breath. "Some of the more high ranking members, they're putting up a strong enough fight."

Wesker thought about this information for a moment.

"Is it time, Captain?"

Wesker thought for a moment longer.

"Yes, it's time. Head for the base and drop the G-Mutation. Set it on the boy's trail and have him implant the embryo. Once that's done, have it take him and the mother away from the base. Kill anyone who gets in its way. We'll retrieve them all once they have gotten far enough."

"And what of the rest of the B.O.W.s.?"

Wesker smirked very uncaringly.

"Leave them be. Let them act on their feral instincts. Whoever survives the massacre, in any, it won't matter. We will have the boy and his blood. That is what we came for. We'll let Simmons worry about cleaning up this mess."

"Simmons will not let this go unanswered."

"By the time he shows up at our doorstep, he won't be of any further use to us, him or the old man. This is the dawn of a new age, Russell, the rise of the new Umbrella. But we need the boy first."

Knowing that this conversation was over, Russell began flying towards the Autobot base. Wesker was right, Jack was the key to a new era of Umbrella Corporation, of mankind as a species.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Ratchet was at wits end. It was madness, chaos. Hundreds of these monsters were scurrying about his base, slaughtering any human unlucky enough to be in their reach. Having only seen one B.O.W. before now, he had reached a new state of horror. Even he wasn't safe from their vicious onslaught, as he fought to keep them away from his frame with his scalpels. He felt like one of the poor Earth creatures he'd seen on a human documentary about fire ants. Bumblebee was watching it one day when there were no more cartoons to watch that morning. Thousands of tiny red insects were swarming a much larger reptile of some kind, lizard if he remembered correctly, and was slowly devouring it while it still lived. Even though the creature was to Cybertronians what a flea was to humans, Ratchet felt uneasy to watch the organic lifeform be picked apart by and invasion of smaller predators. He had no desire to suffer the same fate, so he fought like the Pit to prevent that from happening. He kept them at bay, but not without injury. He already sported new scratches and mesh wounds all over his frame.

But it was the humans who were truly at these creatures mercy. Some of them were putting up a valiant effort to fight back, others were not so lucky as they fell victim to these "Hunters" as he heard few of the humans call them. Ratchet prayed to both Primus and whatever deity the humans worshipped that June and the children were alright. Despite every hindrance their presence had caused since they began coming to base regularly months ago, he feared never seeing them again. He'd lost enough on Cybertron, he couldn't lose his Earthling family as well. It was strange to think about, considering such beings as his family.

His pondering was going to have to wait. He needed Optimus and the other Autobots at the base to help him push these little monsters back, Decepticons be fragged. It was painfully obvious now that Outpost Omega One was lost and they had no other choice but to abandon it. But the creatures that were invading it were all over his controls so he could not even make an attempt to contact Optimus and request his help.

Ratchet began swiping at the Hunters, trying to get it free of the console, hoping it hadn't become too damaged to function.

"Get away from that you disgusting creatures!" He yelled.

He swiped many of them off of the controls, cutting a few in half and getting blood all over his blades. But there was just too many of them. Whenever he removed one group, another would come down and take their place.

Getting frustrated now, Ratchet decided to move them with his bare servos. That was a bad idea. When he grabbed at them, several jumped from the console and onto his servos and arms.

"Gah!" Ratchet yelled in a panic as they began crawling all over him.

Ratchet desperately began trying to pull them off before they could get to his face, but they refused to let him go.

"Get off of me, monsters!"

They were digging their claws beneath his metal, drawing energon from his cuts. It was really beginning to feel like that documentary. As they moved to his shoulders, Ratchet looked back at the controls and was horrified by what he was seeing. The Hunters were clawing at his console, seemingly trying to destroy it.

"It can't be." He managed to say.

There was no other way to explain it. Did these creatures know what they were doing? Were they programmed like the Tyrants Jill spoke of with the objective to destroy the comm links and ground bridge controls? If so, who programmed them? Was it Wesker? How did he know about their technology?

Ratchet let his fear induced questioning go on for too long because several Hunter were able to climb up his back and bring him down to his knees. Now he was being overtaken by the Hunters, ripped apart slowly, just like the lizard. As he felt claws tear away at him, his energon burning a few Hunters off but not enough to save him, he shut his optics and waited for the inevitable. In all his vorns, he would never have thought that it end like this. Not by the hands of a Decepticon, not from a lack of energon, not by old age, but at the many claws of several organic creatures far smaller than him. Waiting for his systems to go offline, he could only hope that his family, both Human and Cybertronian, would survive.

 _BRAPBRAPBRAPBRAPBRAP_

Several gunshots rang out from above him. Strange, since all the horrors were below.

 _POW...POW...POW_

A more far reaching gunshot echoed all the way up to the ceiling.

 _POP POP POP_

This one was more close range, but still very powerful.

It was at this time the Ratchet began noticing the weight dropping from his frame. After hearing several more gunshots from what sounded like four different sources, he opened his optics and saw several dead Hunters piling at his pedes. He looked up at the walk way and saw his four saviors, Sheva, Josh, Barry, and Pierce, all aiming different firearms in Ratchet's direction. The medic couldn't begin to thank them for saving his spark.

"Doctor Ratchet!" Sheva called from the platform. "We need the other Autobots!"

Ratchet looked back at his console and saw that Hunters, while making little progress, were still going to work on it.

"I can't get to my controls. These things are keeping me away from them."

Sheva began changing the magazine of her SVD Dragunov as she watched the Hunters tear at the controls.

"They seem to be interested in the console, Josh." She said to her old mentor. "We have to get them away if we want to get of out here."

"It appears we've gotten their attention, Sheva." Josh replied as he noticed several Hunters climbing up the platform.

Barry looked on and saw that they were only coming up one way.

"Josh, you and me, we can hold'em back." Barry said as he replaced the shells of his customized Colt Python.

"Perhaps we can, Barry." Josh replied.

He took his position on the walkway with his SIG SG 556 fixed on the approaching Hunters.

"Sheva." Barry turned towards the West African agent. "You get those controls free for Ratchet and help him contact Optimus."

"Understood" She replied before taking position.

"Piers, clear that hallway as best you can. Open a path for anyone coming in or going out.

Piers nodded and aimed his SIG-Sauer SSG 3000 at the corridor. Barry joined Josh by the end of the walkway and they began shooting down the ascending Hunters. Piers began shooting at the Hunters by the hallway, while Sheva fired at the ones trying to destroy the controls. Ratchet rearmed his scalpels and struck at any Hunter hoping to reclaim a lost position on the console. Barry and Josh were keeping the Hunters from reach their nest on the platform, while Piers was opening a path through the hall for some of the agents to retreat. Sheva was shooting one Hunter after the other, taking most of them down with one round. It didn't take long for Ratchet to be able to clear the console himself of what was left of them, leaving Sheva to cover him.

Ratchet looked at the controls, seeing the damaged left behind. It looked bad, but the medic knew enough that it looked worse than it actually was. Still, booting everything up took some doing and he didn't know just how deep into the battle with the Decepticons his teamates were. Once the system was back online, Ratchet immediately called for Optimus.

"Optimus, do you read me?! Optimus!"

There was no answer on the other end. Ratchet tried again.

"Optimus, come in! Optimus! We are in desperate need of help. The base has been compromised!"

Ratchet's over watch was keeping him covered as best she could, her rifle still echoing through the base.

"Optimus, please respond! Optimus!"

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The Cybertronian civil war raged on below the mesa, the Decepticon warship blocking the light of the sun high above and casting a dark shadow over the land. Hidden behind the mesa were several choppers still carrying unreleased pods filled with B.O.W.s. Wesker hadn't given the order to release the rest of them. Among the aircrafts, one stood out. It was bigger than the rest of them, carrying a cryo-pod far larger than the others. It moved through the mass of choppers, ascending up to the mesa until it was hovering over the very top. The elevator door was still torn open from the Hunter's invasion. Wesker looked down, wondering if his former officers had finally met their end. He could only hope so. He looked at Russell, nodding at him to take control of the G-Mutation. The loyal Umbrella agent close his eyes and focused his mind into the Plaga inside of the B.O.W. he was carrying. With a fair amount of strain to his dominant Plaga, his body by extension, Russell felt the will of the mutated being submit to his own. Now sweating heavily, the out of breath Russell looked at Wesker and gave him a nod. Wesker responded by releasing the pod and letting it drop to the ground. It landed upright with a loud crash, leaving a mark beneath it. The sides hissed just as the Hunter's pod, releasing the airlocks that held the creature at bay. The pod broke apart into four pieces and dropped to the floor, leaving the B.O.W. standing on a cold platform.

He was large creature, grotesque as could be. From the waist down, he appeared normal. His prisoner pants and boots were intact, safe for stains of blood on each leg. But from the waist above, it was a completely different story. The left side bore a resemblance of something that was once human, now ripped apart by unnatural tissue. The right side was beyond mutated. The abs appeared to have some kind of fangs trying to grow and break free of the skin. The right arm was substantially larger than the left, discolored pink and looking as exposed muscle, the same as the Lickers. The most noticeable trait was his shoulder, bearing a large, red, veiny eyeball exposed for the world to see...or for it to see the world. The eye moved by itself, as if it had a mind of its own. But what was the most unsettling of this grotesque being was his face. Not the mutated right, as veiny and exposed as the arm and eye, but the left, which still closely resembled the human the mutation once one. Its skin still pale, its hair a light shade of black, and one dark greenish-brown eye. To anyone who didn't know any better, it looked like a complete stranger. But to those who once knew him, such as the woman who bore his child, his only son, the resemblance was there. Jackson's features may have favored June more, but there was no denying that this creature was once his father. But this creature was Joshua Darby no more. His mind, his body, even his will was taken from him. As Wesker would say, he was property of Umbrella now and he had only one goal in mind, find Jackson Darby.

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 **Look at that, I'm still here. Ya'know, being that this is a Capcom property I thought of something. Anyone else think Arcee kind of looks like Megaman X? Maybe that should be my next crossover. Then again, X6 was the last Megaman game I played. Heard nuthin' but bad things about X7, X8, and command missions. How are the Zero games? Someone let me know.**

 **Alright, pretty tense chapter this go around. Umbrella's monsters are all over the base and it's all about survival. So, Jack has come a long way since chapter 1, even after Wesker's brutality. But even with all that, the memories are still there and being back in the middle of it a second time, poor kid's got a road to cross. But, he's got the Key to Vector Sigma to give him strength and hopefully he'll be able to tap into his inner Optimus and be the Prime his friends need him to be.**

 **Miko and Rafael now have a taste of what Jack and June had to go through. I knew early on that Miko was gonna have a moment like this when she was willing to step up and make a sacrifice for either Jack or Raf. Thank the Gods that it didn't go that way. I don't know if what Miko did with Rebecca actually works, but I wanted her to be part of the fight even in the smallest way. I also managed to write the Herbs and First Aid Sprays into the story. I don't want to insult you guys by somehow having the main cast get through the whole story without a scratch but I don't want Herbs and Sprays to be able to magically heal all wounds either. Hopefully, this is good middle ground. I address this in the next chapter, but I just want to explain the Hunters not infecting Rebecca when she got slashed now. I don't remember this in the games, but the movies claimed that even a scratch from a T-Virus B.O.W. can cause infection. I wrote that out. Rebecca isn't infected with the T-Virus from her injuries. If she had been bitten, she would be.**

 **Now, I'm sure you all know this, but Jack's father's mutation is the same as William Birkin. Pretty much, Wesker wants to recreate the circumstances with him and Sherry Birkin back in Raccoon City. If Jack is close to the edge now, how do think seeing his father is going to affect. It won't be good. You can be certain about that.**

 **Alright, the next update for this story will be next Monday. However, A Shard of Glass will be updated on Saturday. Thanks for reading and I will see you all there. Leave comments and reviews and Peace Out.**


	25. Chapter 25

"Optimus, respond! The base has been overrun with B.O.W.s! We need your help!"

Ratchet was still desperately trying to reach Optimus with his damaged console as the insanity around him got worse. Barry, Sheva, Piers, and Josh were still holding their own up on the walkway while several others were putting up fights as well, but the Hunters were still all over the place and killing anyone they could reach.

"Optimus, for Primus sake, we are about to be massacred! Respond, slag it!"

Just then, a sound came from the elevator, a horrific sound. It was a roar, one that sounded monstrous, yet human at the same time. Ratchet looked over and saw it behind the torn metal fence of the elevator. Neither the Hunters nor the Licker that came through the ground bridge could compare to the disturbing sight before him. It was another B.O.W., bigger than any he had seen so far. But what disturbed him the most was that it didn't appear mutated completely. It still had the face of a human. Ratchet was terrified beyond rational thought as the creature broke through the fence with no effort at all.

"By The All Spark." Was all Ratchet could utter.

There was a small group of agents trying to make their way to the elevator, putting them right in the monster's path. Some of them were armed with assault rifles and submachine guns, others only had handguns. They opened fire on the terrifying B.O.W. to little affect. It roared in response and ran for the group. The first agent was swatted right into the rails of the platform so hard, that Ratchet heard his body snap in half from the impact. The others tried and failed to put it down as it absorbed their bullets with no affect whatsoever. One unfortunate agent that was within arm's reach was a grabbed by the shoulder. He was lifted off the ground and held up by the B.O.W. over his head. The creature's half mutated face was all he saw before he was slammed back into the steel ground, splattering upon impact. The other agents knew a losing battle when they saw it and decided to take their chances with the Hunters. The creature proceeded forward before being shot in the back from a high caliber weapon. He looked up behind him to where it came and saw Sheva with her smoking rifle. Her mouth was agape by how little the shot affected him. The B.O.W. was about to leap onto the platform and make short work of Sheva and the others.

 _"The boy, Darby. Find the boy and his mother."_

Sheva was about to fire again, but the B.O.W. merely turned away from her. With an apparent sense of urgency, it ripped one of the bars off of the platform and leaped down to the ground level. Landing in the midst of the Hunters, the monstrous creature began attacking any of them that dared to get in its way. Ratchet watched as this further strengthened his theory that these creatures weren't as mindless as he had thought and hoped. Ratchet then heard a beeping sound from his console. The thankful medic quickly answered the comm link.

"Optimus."

 _"It's Arcee. What's the problem, Ratchet?"_

Ratchet heard the creature roar again and saw that it had gone down through to the corridor, despite the many attempts from Agent Piers and his rifle. To his panic, Ratchet realized that the creature was heading to where June and the children had gone. If they came upon that monster, they wouldn't be able to stop it.

 _"Ratchet, what's going on in there?"_ Arcee urgently questioned.

"Arcee, you, Optimus, everyone needs to get back here now! The base has been compromised and we are swarming with B.O.W.s!"

The silence on the other end wasn't even registered by Ratchet as he took his ambulance form and drove down the hall in a desperate attempt to catch up to the B.O.W. He had to reach it before it reached the others. He prayed to Primus that he was strong enough to stop it.

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Blade collided with hammer as Wheeljack and Breakdown went at it. Even though the Decepticon brute hadn't really taken too much damage from Bulkhead, he was at a disadvantage from Wheeljack's speed and sword skill. Bulkhead's war buddy was able to evade the graceless swings of Breakdown's war hammer quite easily, parrying back with one sword and striking with the other. Breakdown swung his hammer downwards, only to be stopped against Wheeljack's katana. Using his other, the Wrecker swiped at his lower chassis, nearly cutting through his armor. Breakdown jumped back with an angry look on his face. Deciding that close combat was not an option, he shifted his blaster and fired on Wheeljack. While not as fast as Arcee, Wheeljack was still able to dodge the oncoming energon blasts. He threw one of his swords at Breakdown who was able to knock it away. Wheeljack used this distraction to transform and drive straight to him. When he got close, he transformed back and leapt over Breakdown with his other sword drawn. Landing behind him, Wheeljack went for his exposed back. Unfortunately, several Vehicons intervened before he could strike.

"Scrap! Slaggin' 'Con drones!" Wheeljack yelled as he just barely dodged energon blasts.

"Nice try, Wrecker!" Breakdown yelled back.

Breakdown swung his hammer and struck Wheeljack in the chassis, knocking him back. Signaling the Vehicons to hold their fire, he approached the downed Autobot. He raised his hammer, intending to crush Wheeljack's helm. Smirking without Breakdown seeing it, Wheeljack caught his hammer with his free servo. His other held his sword and he used it to slice Breakdown's arm off and drive his blade into his chassis. Breakdown grunted angrily in pain from both injuries before Wheeljack kicked him backwards and got back on his pedes. Breakdown stumbled to his knees as Wheeljack picked up his other sword. The Vehicons opened fire on him again, allowing Breakdown to contact the Nemesis.

"Soundwave, I'm injured. I need a ground bridge."

A green vortex opened behind him and he ran through without hesitation as Wheeljack was held down by blaster fire. Becoming overwhelmed, the Wrecker was beginning to panic. Then, several missiles collided with the group of Vehicons, blowing them to pieces. Wheeljack recovered, injured but still standing.

"Thanks, Bulk."

 _"I got your back, Jackie."_

Wheeljack felt something against his pede. He looked down and saw that it was the helm of a Vehicon drone left mostly intact. An idea came to Wheeljack as he picked it up and examined it.

"Hm."

Wheeljack placed the helm by his grenades on his side and continued attacking Vehicons left and right. Bulkhead, watching from the Jackhammer, wondered what he wanted with it.

Arcee landed on her back and was pinned down by Airachnid in her spider form. The Decepticon femme bared her fangs and hissed at Arcee triumphantly. Arcee head-butted her and slashed her in the face with her wrist blade. Airachnid dismounted her and stepped backwards, now sporting a nasty looking gash the up the side of her silver face. She ran her claw over it and saw her digits coated with energon. Airachnid licked the energon off of two of her claws and smiled back at Arcee.

"I love it when you play rough, Arcee."

"Oh, shut the frag up, Airachnid!"

The two circled each other again, Airachnid smirking at the scowling Arcee.

"Admit it, Arcee. Without me, you wouldn't know what to do with all that anger you have building up inside you."

"Yeah, keep talking, Spider-Bitch."

"Oh, such wonderful vocabulary. You've spent too much time with these humans, you're starting to talk like them. What would Jack do if he heard such vulgarity?"

"He'd cheer me on and tell me to end you."

"Is that so? I think you're a bad influence on my Jack. All the more reason to take him away from you."

"Just try it, Airachnid."

Airachnid was getting annoyed at how none of her insults were getting to Arcee.

"I just can't wait to see the look on his face when he learns that Wesker has been dealt with and was thanks to me and not you."

"Do you ever shut up?"

Airachnid wasn't smiling anymore.

"Play the cool femme all you want, Arcee. But we both know that you can only keep it together for so long. Two offlined partners, one maimed, and a failure to capture his tormentor, deep down you know that partnering up with you is a death sentence. Even if you protect Jack from me, how long before you fail to keep him safe from either Megatron or Umbrella?"

Arcee ignored everything Airachnid was saying. It was all just a trick to get her make a mistake. Jack was waiting for her back in the base and she wasn't about to let him down again because of her anger.

Arcee not taking her bait was getting to Airachnid. She hated not being able to manipulate her enemy. Arcee, still fierce, didn't look at her with any rage in her optics. She only held determination, like Optimus, like Jack. Airachnid was bearing her teeth now, getting more agitated the more she thought about it. Arcee was looking eerily calm and had actually lowered her defenses against Airachnid, which caught her by surprise.

"Giving up?" Airachnid asked.

Arcee looked back at her, thinking about something of importance.

"There's something I need to ask you?"

Airachnid didn't like this at all. Arcee never wanted to talk, to listen. She was desperate to send her off into a rage once again.

"Oh? What would you like to know, how I'll treat Jack once he becomes my pet? I promise, I won't be too harsh. I will be a tough but fair master. This, of course, will be after I break his spirit and instill absolute obedience."

Arcee ignored her once again.

"How did Wesker find our base?"

Airachnid didn't expect the question to be about him. It angered her that Arcee was so unthreatened by her that she was much more concerned with that arrogant little human.

"Does it matter?"

"It does."

Airachnid looked on in annoyance but decided to humor Arcee.

"Where's your comrade, the big, green, dumb one?"

"Answer the question!"

"I am, Arcee. He's how Wesker found your base."

Arcee tensed up, looking slightly shocked and confused. Airachnid smiled at the reaction.

"Wesker attacked you and your team recently, correct? Somehow, the little human managed to slip a tracker into Bulkhead's frame without the big brute even noticing."

Arcee let her calm demeanor falter as her optics widened.

"After that, he waited to see where Bulkhead would show up the most on his radar and where the signal would disappear. Like I said, he was on his way here before we picked him up to find out what he wanted with you Autobots."

Horrific realization set upon Arcee as she figured out why Wesker had set that trap for them in Canada. It wasn't to test his monsters against them, it was to hold their attention while he put a bug on Bulkhead. Arcee quickly went for her comms to contact Optimus, but was stopped by two web lines on each servo. Airachnid put them together and yanked Arcee forward. Airachnid jumped into the air, intending to land in Arcee with her bladed spider legs. Arcee rolled out of the way and got back on her pedes, though her hands were still bound.

 _"Optimus, for Primus sake, we are about to be massacred. Respond, slag it!"_ Ratchet's frantic voice came through the comms.

Cutting herself free, Arcee answered the comm link. Airachnid went on the attack again, but Arcee evaded her while she waited for Ratchet to answer back. Him not responding right away concerned her.

 _"Optimus?"_ He answered with desperation in his voice.

"It's Arcee. What's the problem, Ratchet?"

Again, Ratchet didn't respond right away, which was not a good sign. Arcee could hear something going on in the background.

"Ratchet, what's going on in there?"

Arcee let herself become distracted enough to be tackled to the ground by Airachnid, who was beyond toying with her at this point. Two spider legs were stopped inches from Arcee's face and being held at bay.

 _"Arcee, you, Optimus, everyone needs to get back here now! The base has been compromised and we are swarming with B.O.W.s!"_

Arcee's was rendered speechless when she heard that. Optimus was too, as were Wheeljack, Bumblebee, even Bulkhead aboard the Jackhammer.

"Jack." She said in a gasp.

Airachnid was confused by Arcee's sudden panic, which gave Arcee an opening. She kneed Airachnid and managed to break free and throw her off. Airachnid stood up and saw Arcee running towards her. Airachnid was prepared for a fight, but Arcee did nothing more than elbow her in the chassis and run right past her. Airachnid watched as she fled and caught one of her legs with her webbing, causing her to trip.

"And where do you think you're going, Arcee?!"

Arcee turned over with her blaster armed.

"I don't have time for you!" She said as she blasted back, hitting Airachnid in the face.

Arcee cut the web on his leg and transformed to ride back to base.

 _"Autobots!"_ Optimus commanded through the comm link. _"Retreat back to base, now!"_

Bumblebee, who now had some new wounds from the battered Knockout transformed and did as he was commanded.

"Get back here, you little runt!" Knockout yelled.

Wheeljack tried to run back to base, but was being obstructed by several Vehicons. A barrage of missiles cleared a path for him.

 _"Wheeljack, forget these guys!"_ Bulkhead said from the Jackhammer. _"Go and find Miko and get her outta there!"_

Wheeljack looked up at the Jackhammer.

"I'll find her, Bulkhead. I promise I'll keep her safe."

Wheeljack transformed and drove for the base as fast as he could.

Optimus knocked Megatron down and turned his back with the intention to flee.

"We are not finished, Optimus Prime!"

"Yes we are, Megatron! There is another threat far greater than you that needs my attention!"

Optimus, like the others, took his alt and went for the base. An enraged Megatron watched as he drove off.

"Coward!" He yelled at the retreating Prime.

Wesker and Russell watched as the Autobots headed back to the base.

"Release what remains of our weapons outside of the mesa! The Autobots cannot be allowed to reach base! Is that understood?!" Wesker ordered.

Maintaining a position behind the mesa this whole time, several aircrafts appeared among the battle, gaining the attention of both Autobots and Decepticons. The aircrafts released the remaining sealed capsules to the ground below, landing throughout the battlefield. Dozens fell all around the area, one in between Optimus and Megatron, one between Airachnid and Arcee, and many in front of the base. Neither knew what to make of these capsules...and then, they opened up. The outer hatches were blown off and dozens of B.O.W.s jumped out from each of them, Hunters that looked even more disgusting than the one's they fought in Canada and Lickers that were not only larger than the one's Arcee dealt with in Tokyo, but also black and green who now bore one single talon as opposed to several claws. The Decepticons were caught completely off guard by these things. Airachnid stared at a pack of Hunters with her mouth agape and Knockout watched in shock as one Licker flicked its elongated tongue at him.

"Primus, what is that?!" He yelled.

There were hundreds of them, each taking notice of the Cybertronians around them. They released screeches and cries that sent shivers up the frames of every Autobot and Decepticon, before attacking any who was within range. The Autobots were unable to get to the base, having to fight their way through the B.O.W.s obstructing their paths.

The Decepticons watched in horror as these sickening beings attacked them. One licker attempted to attack Megatron who sliced it in half with his sword. Several Hunters jumped on his back but he managed to get them off. When he impaled one, his armed throbbed with pain from when his fusion cannon was destroyed. In his distraction, several Hunters and Lickers piled on top of him. Megatron roared back and tore his way through the swarm, clawing, slashing, and stomping any creature that challenged him. When he was done, he looked down in a state of shock at the pile of organic monsters at his pedes. He surveyed the battlefield and watched as his Decepticons and the Autobots fought against a horde of these creatures.

"By the blood of Unicron, what is going on?!"

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Jack, June, and Jill were arming up in one of the weapons rooms they managed to find. Jill was attaching a KAC Masterkey to her M4 while June loaded shells into a Remington 870. Jack sat in silence as he stared as the close quarters M4 that Jill had provided for him. The last time he had fired a weapon like this, he was thirteen and was knocked on his backside from the blow back. He decided that he didn't like rifles such as this. Now one was sitting on his lap in a life or death situation. Not handling the recoil would get him killed this time. Jack stopped focusing on the rifle and decided to focus of the Key. It gave him more comfort than a gun ever could.

"Alright, we'll meet back up with Chris and figure out a way to get out of here." Jill said as she chambered a round in her M4.

June took a deep breath and looked to her son who was clutching the Key to Vector Sigma. He didn't hear Jill, it seemed. Both could see that he was scared and became very worried about him. June knelt down and put her hand over Jack's.

"Honey, we need to go now."

Jack took a few deep breaths, never letting go of the Key. For a moment, June saw her ten year old son again trying not to be afraid. When he looked at her, it was clear that fear was all he was feeling. Still, with one more breath, Jack stood up and they all left.

They moved down the hallway, expecting a Hunter, or many, to appear around the corner or even up in the pipes along the ceiling at any moment. Jill was taking point while June made sure to keep Jack behind her.

"Remember, these things don't spread the virus through their claws so if you get caught by them, don't panic. We've each got one first aid spray which should stop any bleeding until we can get out of here. But whatever you do, don't let them bite you."

Jill heard a shuffling sound from inside one of the rooms and signaled the other two to stop. She was on guard with her rifle as she waited for whatever was inside that room. Jill hoped that if it was a Hunter, it was alone. Moments went by and Jill took one step closer. Just as she prepared to storm the room, something appeared in front of her with greater speed. When Jill saw a 12 gauge barrel staring right at her, she let her guard down.

"Chris."

"Jill?"

Both lowered their weapons and hugged each other gratefully. Jill pulled away as quickly when she remembered the kids.

"Rafael, Miko..."

Hearing her name brought the foreign girl out into the hallway.

"We're here, we're okay." She said with Raf at her side.

The moment they saw Jack, the three ran into each other.

"Jack!" They said together.

"Oh, God. You're alright." He replied relief as he held them with his free arm.

"Are either you hurt?" June asked.

"Nu-uh, we're fine." Miko answered.

Jill looked on thankfully as Jack was reunited with his friends. She looked back at Chris with a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Chris."

Her smile fell when she saw the bandaged and slow walking Rebecca.

"Becca!"

"It's alright, just a few scratches." She replied.

Jill knew well what green herbs and first aid sprays could do for injuries, but she also knew that they were band-aid solutions, so to speak, at best. They needed to get out of there and get Rebecca proper medical attention. At least she wasn't bitten. Jill couldn't handle another old comrade turning undead...like Brad.

Loud screeches were heard down the hall and everyone put their guards up. Miko and Raf ran behind Jack who nervously held up his rifle. Raf shut his eyes and held the back of Jack's waist tightly. Miko held on by his shoulders, allowing him to feel her shivering. They were counting on him to keep them safe. June stood in front of Jack with her shotgun. Rifle or not, 16 or 30, Jack was still her son and she was going stand between him and whatever was coming their way. Jill, Chris, and Rebecca stood front and center, acting as a wall for the four of them. This was their job, their mission, to protect civilians. The fact that these people were important to them only strengthened their resolve.

The screeches were getting louder and they all heard the sounds of claws and fleshy feet shuffling closer. There were a lot of them, much to all of their horror. They finally appeared down the hall and were heading straight for the group. From behind the three agents, June and Jack could only wait until they made it past the human wall in front of them. The B.S.A.A. trio, however, wasted no time. Jill's weapon got the farthest range and did a fair amount of damage to the Hunters in front. Rebecca, armed with an MP5, had range but not a lot of stopping power. Still, it did its part. Chris had his shotgun, but fired the Raging Bull from earlier. Rebecca couldn't handle it because of her injuries so Chris held it for its caliber. They managed to take down a few Hunters, but the rest weren't slowing down. Rebecca and Jill's weapons went dry and they resorted to using their side arms and attachments. As they got closer, Chris pulled his shotgun from his shoulder and managed to kill a few more. Right in front of them now, they all braced themselves. To their complete shock, the Hunters leapt over them, some of them climbing up in the pipes, or just ran past them. Jill panicked and looked behind her, seeing June shooting down a few who got too close, but not being attacked either. By the time they made it to the kids, most of them were up in the ceiling or far enough from them that there was no need to shoot them. The Hunters ran down the other end of the hall, leaving all seven of them to wonder what had just happened. What they heard next answered their question.

"RRRRAAAAHHHH!"

All their attentions turned down the hall. The roar was a B.O.W., they all knew that. But it sounded like it could also have come from a human. They all quickly reloaded their primary weapons, safe for Jack. Loud footsteps were heard approaching from around the corner. Whatever was coming their way, it was big. Miko and Raf held Jack tighter than they ever had, even in the shadowzone. June backed closer to them, her heart racing and not for Optimus. Jack was keeping it together for Miko and Raf. If they weren't there, he would've lost it by now. The last thing he saw that sounded like that was the Nemesis.

A screech from another Hunter was heard, followed by it flying into the wall opposite from the corner of the hall. It smashed against several pipes, releasing steam into the corridor. This was bad, not only was whatever did that to the Hunter strong enough to do it, but now they would have to fight it partially blind. Then, it turned the corner.

It was big, that much they could tell. They could also tell that it was only partially mutated if it's very human legs were of any indication. They could see its deformed arm, even through the growing cloud of steam. Taking it out wasn't going to be easy, especially in such a cramped space with the...

"You four, run!" Jill yelled.

June grabbed the three youths and they ran down the other end of the hall, making sure to make the turn without the fleeing Hunters. Jack looked back at Jill, Chris, and Rebecca, as they opened fire on the B.O.W. running their way.

"Jill..." He said to himself.

As they ran farther down the hall, they could still hear the gunfire along with the creature roaring monstrously. Jack didn't want to think about all the disadvantages they were in, fighting that _thing_ in a corridor. They came to a stop where June turned around with her shotgun aimed down the hall. She held her position while the children waited in silence.

"Ms. Darby?" A very frightened Raf asked.

"Shh." She replied.

June was trying to listen for approaching footsteps, but she heard none. Had they taken that monster out already?

No, they hadn't.

Up in the ceiling, something smashed through the pipes and landed right in front of June. More steam filled the hallway, just like before. Jill raised her weapon and let off four shots into the obscured creature. With its less deformed hand, the creature smashed it against June's body, right into the wall next to her. When she hit the floor, she wasn't moving.

"Mom!" Jack cried.

The creature walked right over June, unconcerned with her. The three children backed away slowly as it began walking up to them. Jack couldn't see its face through the steam, but if it was anything like what he could see of its arm, he was glad he couldn't.

"Jack?" Raf said with absolute fear.

The three of them were completely helpless, unable to move. Jack couldn't look away from it, its obscured face. That's when he noticed that it was staring at him. Jack swallowed and eyed the empty room opposite of him, Miko, and Raf. Moving with him, the three stepped over slowly to the doorway. His gaze followed them. Jack had an idea.

As carefully as he could, Jack handed Miko his pistol. Miko looked at the back of Jack's head, confused and worried.

"Miko...keep Rafael safe." He said in a very low...and very uncertain voice.

"Jack?" Miko said with a cracked voice.

Had they not been there, Jack would never do something so dangerous. He took a deep breath, shoved Miko and Raf into the room beside them, and ran for it. The monster took off after him, ignoring Miko and Raf altogether.

"Jaaaaaack!" Miko cried as the two disappeared.

Miko ran out into the hallway and fell to her knees in tears.

Jack ran as fast as his legs would allow, ignoring every burning pain in his muscles. He didn't look behind him, he wouldn't dare. He just ran for dear life. He didn't know if he was going to die, he didn't even think about it. All he thought about was getting this monster as far away from Miko and Rafael as he could. He turned another corner to his helpless horror, he met with a wall.

"No...No!" He yelled as he grabbed his head in a panic.

He was breathing hard now and not just from the running. He managed to put some distance between him and the B.O.W., but he could hear it catching up. Jack went up against the wall, shakily aiming his rifle. Now it was beginning to sink in. He was going to die. He saw the creature clearly for the time when it turned the corner, the deformity, the giant eye, the human face. Jack took one look at its face and he let his rifle fall from his hands. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nothing in all of his nightmares could compare to what, or rather, who he was looking at. But staring back at him was a face he knew from a long time ago.

"D-Dad?" He said with what little breath he had.

The creature walked towards Jackson, but he was frozen in place. His body went numb, his ears went deaf, but his eye was working just fine. This was it, Jack was done.

 _BEEP! BEEP!_

Two honks caught the creature's attention and he was met head on with the front of an orange and white ambulance. Jack was brought back to his senses just in time to jump out of the way as the creature...his father, was rammed into the wall. With Joshua Darby pinned, the driver's door opened for Jack.

"C'mon, Jack!"

Jack jumped inside and the door slammed shut. Ratchet backed out and drove away from the monstrosity he had just collided with.

"Jack, are you alright?" He asked with a great amount of concern.

Jack wasn't able to answer, as the reality of what he had just saw set in. He stared at Ratchet's steering wheel, gasping his each breath, his eyes filled with absolute terror. Then, after slowing his breathing, Jack broke down. Covering his face with his hands, Jack let his emotions pour out of him without mercy. Ratchet comfortingly placed his seat belt around Jack, but it did little to help him.

"Jack, it's alright. I'm getting you out of here."

Jack didn't even hear him. One hand went over his mouth to muffle his hysteric cries, while the other went around his stomach and clutched his side. Ratchet had never seen him like this. As Jack started rocking back and forth nervously, he was beginning to scare the old medic. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life.

Ratchet then came to a stop. The back doors opened and Jack looked back to see Chris and Jill getting an unconscious June into the vehicle.

"Mom!"

He rushed back to check on her. Her head was bloody and bandaged and her breathing was labored.

"She's got a few cracked ribs, two broken ones, and a bad concussion." Rebecca said as she entered the vehicle. "I stabilized her, but she stills needs a doctor."

The back was cramped with the five of them. Jack heard both doors open and saw Miko and Raf enter, to his immense relief. They saw him and Raf quickly got up and hugged him tightly.

"You're okay." He said through a cry.

Jack didn't hesitate to turn around and hold Raf close to him. Raf welcomed the hug, until he felt how much Jack was trembling. Jack buried his face in Raf's hair and continued crying uncontrollably. Raf looked up and could see that his eyes were shut tightly. Everyone was worried now. Miko knelt down and put her hand on Jack's shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, Jack?"

Jack shook his head in response.

"No...it won't."

Jill looked at her young friend, his bravery stripped away. Her heart broke into a thousand pieces and only one question passed through her mind.

'What have you done now, Wesker?'

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Optimus and the other Autobots had made it through the B.O.W.s and into the base, but what was waiting for them was of no comfort in the slightest. The B.S.A.A., those that had come to Outpost Omega One, were not few in numbers. Chris Redfield claimed it was a mere third of one particular base and it was clearly a small army. But now, less than half that remained.

The base was infested with the same Hunters from outside. Scattered about the floor were a great number of agents that had been savagely ripped apart by these shrieking demons. A few were grouped together around the base, fewer had managed to find somewhere out of reach. One group comprised of Barry Burton, Sheva Alomar, Josh Stone, and Piers Nevans were making a last stand on one the upper platforms, but there was no sign of Ratchet. Even worse, no sign of the children, alive or dead. Optimus could not bring himself to consider the latter possibility.

Without even giving the command, the Autobots began cleaning their home. There were far less in the main hall than there had been during their encounter with Wesker, but who knew how many were elsewhere in the base? As a large swarm was beginning to close in on the platform group, Bumblebee and Wheeljack had begun incinerating them with energon blasts. Sheva looked down to the Autobot pair, relief and gratefulness easy for them to see. They could also see a pistol in her hand as well as a discarded rifle of some kind by her side. The group was down to their last bit of ammunition and would have been killed had it not been for the Autobots.

Optimus and Arcee began opening a path down the hall. Both were suppressing panic at the absence of Jack and June. Wheeljack and Bumblebee were also moments from losing their senses as they worried about Miko and Rafael. The base was beginning to fall under their control. Optimus was about to take his alt and go search for any human survivors. Before he could even activate his T-Cog, several cries, shrieks, and screeches were heard from the tunnel entrance.

 _"Guys, they're gettin' in!"_ Bulkhead warned through the comms.

Sure enough, several more Hunters along with the black Lickers came pouring into the base, forcing the Autobots to take defensive action. Optimus couldn't leave his team to face these monsters without him, but he was also desperate to find his human companions.

"Bulkhead, what's goin' on out there?" Wheeljack asked.

 _"All of of'em are trying to get in the base. They all started once you guys made it in."_

"Listen, Bulk. Let off whatever the Jackhammer's got left at the entrance and get in here."

 _"Alright, Jackie."_

The fight continued on as more B.O.W.s kept coming into the base. It was not looking good at all. With the exception of Wheeljack, all the Autobots were still injured. Arcee still had two stab wounds from Airachnid in her shoulders, Bumblebee was still leaking energon from the hole in his side Knockout gave him, and the helm wound Megatron had given Optimus was still slowing the Prime down. All of them were slowed down, in fact. They were just managing the keep the monsters in the tunnels, thanks to the narrow space and their combined firepower. If even one of them let up, the base would be overrun again.

Several tremors were felt just outside of the base. The Autobots couldn't even spare the time the think about what it was.

 _"Comin' through, guys!"_ Bulkhead yelled.

Wheeljack realized that Bulkhead had done what he said and was heading into the base right now. The sound of an oncoming truck pounding against a sea of flesh forced the Autobots to hold their fire. Bulkhead powered through in his SUV form, transforming upon entry. He stumbled to his servos and knees after transforming, still weak from Breakdowns hammer. He looked back behind him and saw that his comrades were struggling to keep the rest of the B.O.W.S. out of their home. Bulkhead slowly stood up and shifted both his servos into blasters. But even with his help, the Autobots were barely holding them back.

The added firepower did allow Wheeljack to act out the second part of his plan. From his belt, still carrying a Decepticon helm, he pulled out a detonator switch.

"Guys, you're about to feel another rumble, a big one. When that happens, you don't want to be in front of this tunnel."

The Autobots glanced at Wheeljack while maintaining their fire. Wheeljack wasted no time.

"I'm sorry, girl." He said as he hit the switch.

Sure enough, the ground shook beneath their pedes and every Autobot jumped out of the way of whatever was about to come through the tunnel, injuries be damned. Before the B.O.W.s could scatter, a wave of blue energon fire flowed through the tunnel entrance and swallowed up the front of the main hall where it led to. Many of the Hunters and Lickers were taken by the flames and were burned down to the bones. Many high pitched cries were heard by the Autobots as they shielded themselves from the heat and best they could. The fire eventually died out and things were finally getting under control for the time being. Wheeljack once again bought them some time. Now, they had to find the others.

"Autobots..." Optimus began, but was cut off by the sound of an approaching vehicle.

From the hallway, Ratchet quickly pulled into the main area, and came to a stop when he saw Optimus.

"Optimus, thank Primus!"

"Ratchet, where are the others?" Optimus asked with urgency.

Chris exited the vehicle and walked up to the side of Ratchet.

"Jack's safe, the kids are safe, June's safe, Op." He said.

Optimus and Arcee were both relieved to hear that everyone was okay. However...

"Is there anyone from your team left down there?"

Chris exhaled grimly.

"Jill and Rebecca are in there with the kids, but we're all that's left Optimus."

"And we need to leave, right now." Ratchet added.

Optimus looked at Ratchet in agreement and then gave Arcee a commanding look. Arcee nodded in response and went to the controls. She saw that the updated emergency protocol coordinates were still set and activated the ground bridge. As it opened up, more B.O.W.s were heard from outside.

"Keep them away from the bridge!" Optimus yelled, then looked to Ratchet. "Go now, Ratchet!"

The medic was the first to drive through the bridge, Chris grabbing onto the back as he passed him. With the kids out of harm's way, he turned to the remaining B.S.A.A.

"Bulkhead, Arcee, make sure the rest of the B.S.A.A. have a clear path to the bridge."

"Sir!" They responded.

Arcee and Bulkhead began knocking and crushing what few Hunters were still around the base, allowing the agents to get to the ground bridge. Sheva, Barry, Piers, and Josh were about to climb down from the rails, but were stopped by the sight of Bulkhead's servo, which was large enough for the four of them. They all jumped into the Wrecker's servo and were lowered to the ground.

"Thank you, Bulkhead." Josh said.

"Just get to the ground bridge and thank me on the other side."

The four agents did as told, heading down to ground level. Many more were following behind them, though far less than what came in. With the last human through the bridge, it was time for the Autobots to leave the base.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead." Optimus ordered.

Wheeljack and Optimus fixed their blasters on the hallway where the B.O.W.s were about to enter again as all the injured Autobots went through the bridge.

"Wheeljack." Optimus said to his remaining soldier.

The two exchanged looks and Wheeljack threw his remaining grenade down the tunnel, stopping the B.O.W.s.

"Let's go!" Optimus yelled.

When they turned to the bridge, they saw it standing by the hall. Partially mutated and looking far more threatening than the monsters outside, all three of its eyes set on the two Autobots. Ratchet had told Optimus that the Licker he showed him was once human, but Optimus could not imagine it ever being so. At this moment, it wasn't so hard. This monster was clearly a human once, but now it was something else. Underneath the shock and horror, Optimus could swear that its face looked familiar.

Wheeljack reacted first and shot it dead on with his blaster. The creature hit the wall and fell to the floor. As it got to its knees, its body started shifting around and deforming itself even further. Neither wanted to wait and see what was about to happen and ran through the bridge as fast as they could. The B.O.W. was still going through a metamorphosis as the portal closed, leaving it and Jasper behind.

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Optimus and Wheeljack came through the bridge and the portal closed behind them. None of the B.O.W.s were able to follow them, including the one they saw before they abandoned Outpost Omega One. They ended up in what appeared to be some sort of military hangar. It belonged to the B.S.A.A. and located in one of their black-sites. It looked different than the last time Optimus had saw it when he and Ratchet arranged this set up with Director O'Brian in the event that the base was compromised. The only difference was that it now had an almost exact replica of the Autobot's console, built by Ratchet over the last few weeks.

Optimus looked back at the spot where the vortex had closed, realizing that his home was lost yet again. For the second time, he and his Autobots were forced to leave a place they had come to know and rest. But it wasn't just them this time, it was the children as well.

"June, Jack." Optimus said to himself in urgency.

He looked over to Chris and Ratchet, the former was opening the latter's doors. When Optimus saw an unconscious and injured June lying on the floor, he was struck with the fear that he had lost so much more.

"We need a medic!" Chris shouted.

Several came from the outside, pausing for a brief moment at the sight of the Autobots. The injured were led out of the hangar, June on a stretcher. Arcee gasped when she saw what had happened to the woman.

"June." She said as she reached for her but stopped midway.

"We'll do everything we can, Ma'am." The medic pushing her said.

Arcee reluctantly held back and allowed her to be taken somewhere where she would be taken care of. She watched solemnly as her best friend's mother was removed from the hangar. She looked back at Ratchet, where she saw Rebecca being helped from the vehicle by Chris. She was also injured and led away by a fellow medical officer. Arcee hoped that she be alright. She turned her attention back to the ambulance and saw Miko and Raf exit the vehicle and run up to the injured guardians.

"Miko!" A weakened but relieved Bulkhead cried.

He took his BFF in his servos and held her to his spark chamber. Miko was in tears now, letting it all finally get to her.

"Bulkhead." She tearfully cried.

"I'm here, Miko. You're safe, now."

Bulkhead looked at Wheeljack who was watching with a reluctant smile. He was happy that she was okay, but not happy that she was so frightened. This only made him want to hurt Umbrella even more.

"Bumblebee!" Raf said as he ran up to his big brother but stopped when he saw the hole in his side. "You're hurt."

Bumblebee tried to look as reassuring as possible, noticing the reddened eyes of his friend which could have only come from crying.

 **"I'll be fine, Raf. Are you okay, little buddy?"**

He wasn't, but he put on his best front just as he'd seen Jack do many times before. He walked over to Bumblebee and wrapped his arms around his leg as best he could.

"I thought I'd never see you again."

It sunk in to the both of them that they could've died. The scout reached down and placed his metal digit comfortingly on Rafael's back.

Arcee was still looking at Ratchet's alt, waiting for her partner to step out. Jill came out first and caught sight of Arcee. That calmed her greatly, seeing that she was alright. She just knew that Jill did everything in her power to keep both Jack and June safe. They smiled at each other, but Arcee's faltered when Jack failed to step out. Jill picked up on this and looked back into the ambulance.

"Jack?"

There wasn't a response, verbally or physically. After a few seconds, he finally exited the vehicle, allowing Ratchet to transform. The femme gasped again, thankful to Primus and every Earth god she knew of that her Jack was alright.

"Jack."

But when Jack failed to even acknowledge her presence or anything around him, when he didn't look up, she knew something was wrong. He just stood there with his eye glued to the ground, holding his own arms.

Director O'Brian walked up to group, noticing the fewer numbers than who had left. He looked to Chris, who grimly shook his head.

"Umbrella...it's just never enough for them." The director said to himself.

"Director O'Brian." Optimus began, gettin his attention. "We must contact Agent William Fowler of the U.S. Government. I must know if he was able to evacuate Jasper before the attack."

"A government agent?" O'Brian replied cautiously.

"I assure you that he is trustworthy and not under the employment of Umbrella."

O'Brian sighed.

"Alright, Optimus. I trust your judgement."

"Thank you, Director."

Arcee had walked over and knelt down in front of Jack. He still hadn't acknowledged her or Jill.

"Jack?" Arcee worryingly said. "Jack, what's wrong?"

Jack was beginning to breathe harder than normal, clearly in distress.

"I...I don't..." He was breathing even harder. "I-I...I can't..."

He couldn't stand still, couldn't form words. Jill touched his shoulder to try and calm him.

"Jack, calm down, breathe."

"But I..." He was sounding a bit hysteric. "I-I couldn't..." His voice was cracking.

Optimus quickly stepped forward as Jack was holding in his hysterics with his hand over his mouth. He looked to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Jackson, you must calm yourself. Please, tell us what happened?"

Jack heard his voice and looked him in the optics. What Optimus saw was absolute despair, pure fear of a young human close to his breaking point. Jack looked away and ran for the hangar doors. Barry caught him before he got far.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, kid. We're the good guys, remember?"

" _Please. Please, let me go_." Jack whimpered.

Optimus heard how weak he sounded, how his voice came out. He couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that someone who had shown such strength in the past could be broken down this way. Barry looked up at Arcee, who worryingly looked to Optimus. The Prime shut his optics and simply nodded. Barry, clearly not wanting to, let Jack go and he was gone. They all watched as he ran for somewhere unknown to them or to him. Arcee wanted to chase after him, to take her alt, tell him to hop on, ride somewhere quiet, and hold him close as he let his emotions go. But she was scared...scared to know what happened. The atmosphere of the base was a low one. Everyone's nerves and emotions were shot. The base was gone, Jasper was going to be overrun by either the Decepticons or B.O.W.s. Things were not looking good. Optimus could only pray that this would be the worst of it. But this was Umbrella and the Decepticons, Wesker and Megatron. Never had Optimus feared for the war to come quite like this.

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"Sir...They've escaped." Russell said shamefully.

Wesker removed his sunglasses flung them against the dash. He began rubbing his eyes in frustration.

"Dammit!" He yelled as he punched and cracked the glass of the chopper.

"I'm sorry, Captain."

"We underestimated them...and we overestimated the Decepticons. Because of that, the boy and his mother slipped through our fingers again."

Wesker looked down and saw that the Decepticon were still engaging his weapons.

"You still have the G-Mutation, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

Wesker looked forward again.

"I'm certain that this hidden base connects to the sewers somehow. Have it burrow deep and get it as far away from here as possible. This town won't be standing by tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir. And what about Jackson Darby?"

Wesker inhaled to calm his anger.

"They'll hide the boy from me, but _they_ will not hide. Another opportunity _will_ present itself."

Wesker looked back down and saw the Decepticons fleeing through a ground bridge.

"We have to leave, Russell, now."

"Sir."

The chopper flew off and Jasper was left abandoned to the bio-organic weapons on the ground.

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Airachnid, Knockout, and Megatron came through the bridge and onto the Nemesis. Several Vehicons noticed Megatron's damaged arm.

"Lord Megatron, you're injured."

"You have a firm grasp of the obvious, 5T3V3!" Megatron spit back and he pushed the Vehicon away. "Soundwave!"

Soundwave was already standing at attention and awaiting orders. Knockout spoke before Megatron could.

"Does anyone know just what the Pit that was down there?"

"Soundwave, run images of those... _things_ through every database on this planet. I want to know what it was that cost me my victory!" Megatron ordered.

Soundwave nodded and turned back to his console.

"I've seen some unsightly things on this dirt rock, but those monsters were the most disgusting organics I've ever seen, even more than humans." Knockout added.

"They were more than just disgusting, Knockout. They were vicious, feral, and dangerous. Airachnid."

The spider-femme gave Megatron her attention.

"You've seen and hunted many lifeforms before you came to Earth. Have you ever seen anything like that?"

"No, Lord Megatron. I've collected many creatures several sizes bigger than those, but never that many at once. Whatever they were..." Airachnid never thought she would shutter at the thought of something so much smaller than her. "They were unnatural."

Something came to Megatron.

"Yes...they _were_ unnatural and they were left behind by human aircrafts...Perhaps..."

It hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Bring that little human to me, now!"

Airachnid jumped at the chance.

"Allow me, My Lord."

Airachnid left to grab Wesker, leaving Megatron, Knockout, and Soundwave.

"Umbrella Corporation conducted experiments before their empire fell. Wesker was planning this before we had gotten to him. He intended to unleash them onto the Autobots."

"But why, Lord Megatron? What is he after?" Knockout asked.

"I will ask him when he is brought to me and if I suspect he is lying once again, I will send him back to Earth and watch as his own monsters rip him apart."

Airachnid walked into the room where she had left Wesker. She had plans to remove parts of him before handing him over to Megatron. He had cost her the defeat of her enemy, the capture of her Jack, and the truth of what he had done. She knew that it was him that removed Jackson's eye, but she wanted to hear it from his mouth. Now, she was going to get her answers the old fashioned way.

" _Wesker_ , _Megatron would like a word you_." Her faux sweetness sounded less sweet this time. "As would I" She followed darkly.

She walked over to the cage where she had spit her acid through, remembering that he was in the next one over. She flexed her claws in anticipation. The first thing she intended to do was to remove his eye just as he did to her Jack. When she knelt down to get a better look, she saw that the lock had been broken and the cage was empty.

"What?!"

Airachnid was now angry. There was no way that the little human had escaped his cage and the Nemesis...could there? Airachnid was about to inform Megatron of the break out until something in the cage caught her optic. It was small, too small for a Cybertronian like her. She reached in and took it carefully between two of her claws. She brought it closer to her face to see it more closely. It didn't take long for her to figure out what it was, gasping in realization. It was Jack's eye, preserved in a human sized vial of some unknown solution. It _was_ him who hurt Jack. He had boldly lied to her about it while having the evidence on him the entire time. Now, Airachnid felt as enraged as Arcee tended to be.

"I'll gut him." She said lowly. "I'm going to tear that little human to pieces!" She shouted as she used a spider leg to slash through several of the cages.

Megatron, still with a damaged armed, watched from the brig as the monsters were scattering back on Earth. They really were disgusting...and infesting. Some were running around in the open desert, while others were heading for the small human town known as Jasper. Megatron knew that he couldn't let these things run freely. They would destroy whatever stood in their path, leaving him with less to conquer.

 _"Lord Megatron...he's gone."_ Airachnid said the comm link.

Megatron looked shocked.

"What?! How?!"

 _"I...I don't know, My Lord."_

The warlord growled in anger, then turned to his spymaster.

"Arm the cannons! I want every one of Wesker's filthy beasts swallowed by fire! And if the Autobots have escaped, I want them to have no home to return to! Destroy it all!"

Knockout smiled bitterly, energon still leaking from his mouth. Soundwave nodded to his lord and began to set the Nemesis' main weapons.

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The black warship repositioned itself. It hovered over the mesa that concealed the now overrun and abandoned Autobot base. The Nemesis was armed with several cannons, each capable of destroying a city with more power than anything Umbrella could hope to create. Only one was needed for this act. A single cannon positioned itself and took aim at the center of the mesa. A low humming sound began resonating as the cannon started to charge. Even the B.O.W.s could sense that something was about to happen. The edge of the cannon glowed hot red.

A red beam of light descended on top of the mesa, melting the stone and steel structure from the inside out. The base crumble as the power of concentrated energon broke through the walls and reduced the base to nothing. But it was not over. Once the base fell, the fire that was trapped inside poured out into the air and devoured every living thing in its path. The B.O.W.s scales, skin, and muscles were burned away as quick as a breath, their bones reduced to dust. The fire kept growing, quickly reaching the small town of Jasper. The school where Team Prime's youth attended, the shops they went to, the homes they lived in...Megatron's weapon erased them from this green Earth which was now scarred with fire. From the center of the town, to the edge of residential area, to the desert, all the way to where it ended, Jasper was cast in flames. From the road, one could see the ruins of the humble little town, greeted only by a half destroyed sign.

"Jasper City Limits."

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 **"Burn them all! BURN THEM ALL!"**

 **So yeah, we've reached the point of Jasper's destruction, but under very different circumstances. For the record, neither Smokescreen nor Ultra Magnus will appear in this story. I don't think the Predaking will either. I'm not sure about Shockwave.**

 **We continued off from the last chapter where G-Mutation Josh Darby is set loose on the base. I know there wasn't a lot of him this time, but I'm saving him for later chapters. Trust me, when he comes back, it will be a dark chapter. Now, if you're wondering why he left June to go after Jack, Russell was controlling him. Jack was the prize and when he ran, that's who he went after and intended to get June on the way back. Luckily, no one important was taken or killed. Rest in peace Red Shirts.**

 **One thing I felt about TFP was that they never got to resolved the Arcee/Airachnid beef. Sure, Arcee trapped her in the stasis pod and she was all "I'm not like you", but I still felt that Arcee never put her tragedy behind her so much as it just lost focus. This is why I wrote her being able to ignore Airachnid's taunting for the sake of Jack. I do wish I covered "Partners" in the series to give that character growth more impact. Also, she now knows how Umbrella found the base.**

 **We're going backwards with Jack now. I feel like I'm being cruel to him by this point, but let's face it, seeing his father that way was going to mess him up mentally. Jack is in a very bad place right now and I will try not to go full angsting, but he is not gonna be all smiles and sunshine come next chapter. How do you think June will react when she finds out what happened to her ex-husband?**

 **Airachnid knows the truth and she is pissed. The Decepticons know about the B.O.W.s and Megatron knows that they pose a threat to him and his ambitions. Wesker now has four groups gunning for him. But he don't give two scraps. As twisted and let's be honest, exaggerated he is, Wesker is a cool ass villain.**

 **Next chapter will deal with the fallout of the Destruction of Jasper, but it won't just be for the Autobots. What do I mean? Well, just wait and see.**

 **'Till then, I'm Korova...and there's no one else here. Hit The Button!**


	26. Chapter 26

**This chapter contains slightly harsher language than usual.**

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Wesker looked off in the distance, seeing the light of the flames still burning miles away. The Decepticon's warship was no longer hovering above the small town that was now in ruins. Wesker counted his blessings. There was nothing that either he, Umbrella, or any military on Earth had in their arsenal that could come close to such power. The Decepticons may vulnerable to Umbrella's B.O.W.s, but their weaponry was far superior. Still, even after today's events, these mechanical beings would continue to underestimate Wesker and Umbrella. So long as they did not know what they had in store, they were exposed. If Wesker managed to get his hands on Jackson Darby beforehand, it would be all the more easier.

"The G-mutation will be here shortly, Sir." Russell informed Wesker.

Wesker took a good look at Russell and saw that his dark skin was beginning to pale. Both his nose and mouth were leaking blood like a loose faucet. Russell must have overexerted himself forcing the G-mutation to move quickly enough to escape Megatron's weapon. Even with its enhanced strength and speed, it was too close of a call for Wesker's comfort.

From the distance, Wesker saw the creature approaching through the desert. Russell relieved himself of some of the strain now that he was near. As Wesker got a better look at him, he saw that he had further mutated, which no doubt contributed to the added strain on his second in command. He was much bigger now, visibly stronger. Its human like limbs had grown beyond normal human appearance, veins now pulsating beneath its much thicker skin. The enlarged right fist had become an even larger claw, more than capable of piercing a Cybertronian's armor. The large eye on its shoulder was now more exposed, a deformed growth sprouted from the top. The human face was replaced with an indescribable head that was clearly inhuman. The remnants of its former self now rested in the center of its torso. Joshua Darby's face had moved to its chest, looking as if he was being pulled into the creature's body. Two clawed but human like arms came from its waist and folded over its stomach. By the human head, there was a strange, red growth. Wesker couldn't tell what it was, only that it looked like it could burst open any minute.

Wesker was pleased with the G-mutation's new form. It would make it more effective against the Autobots and Decepticons.

"Bring it over here, Russell."

Russell commanded it to approach the two, which it did without resistance. It stepped on a large metal platform that suddenly sprang upwards and trapped it inside of some kind of chamber. It was sealed tightly and the creature was frozen instantly. Once it was put back in cryo-stasis, Russell collapsed to his knees and began vomiting blood. Wesker walked past him, patting his back as he did so. He went up to the trapped G-mutation, trying to figure out his next move. He was interrupted, however, by a call from his disposable phone. Wesker took an annoyed breath before answering it.

"What is it now, Simmons?"

 _"What have you done, Wesker?"_ He asked slowly.

Reports of Jasper's destruction must have already reached the public.

"What do mean?"

 _"Jasper, Nevada, some small town in the middle of nowhere, was evacuated and now there's reports of some kind of explosion! I know that you had something to do with this!"_

"Simmons, you are grasping at straws."

 _"I'm am not one to be taken for a fool, Wesker! The phone you're speaking to me with has a tracker in it. You are right outside of Jasper as we speak! Don't try to play games with me!"_

Wesker grimaced in anger. How could he not have figured that Russell would do something like that?

 _"I will be in Clovis, New Mexico in four hours. I expect you to be there already when I call you to tell you where to meet me."_

"Meet you?"

 _"And you'd better be there, Wesker, or you will be a marked man by Umbrella and the U.S. Government. I want to know what you're up to, what you and your men have been doing behind my back. Come alone. Leave your followers behind. Four hours, Wesker. Don't test my patience."_

Simmons hung up on the other end and Wesker gripped the phone hard enough to almost break it. He placed the phone back in his pocket and went to help Russell back on his feet.

"Are you alright, Russell?"

Russell gasped a few breaths, swallowed some blood, but regained his composure.

"I may need a day or two before trying to control that thing again, Sir. But I'll be alright."

"Good." He said as Russell stood on his own. "You are to take the G-mutation to one of our blacksites in Canada and await further instructions?"

"Sir?"

"You were right when you said that Simmons wouldn't be happy about this. He's expecting in four hours."

"Alone, Sir?"

"Yes, alone."

Russell's look indicated suspicion.

"Captain Wesker, all due respect..."

"I'm walking into a trap, I know, Russell."

"Then why go, Sir?"

"Because I need to know what Simmons is planning. He may be on to us, but he doesn't know what we're after. I am certain, however, that the old man had been told of our unknown agenda. I will go to him in New Mexico, allow him to take me into custody, and find out just how much he knows."

"Captain, I'm well aware that you're more than capable of overpowering Simmons and his men. But if you kill him, Oswell Spencer will turn all of Umbrella against us. If you spare him, he will know what you are and Umbrella will try to take you alive."

Wesker had his back to Russell, thinking to himself.

"Aboard the Decepticon warship, I stood before metal giants that were far superior to all of us. Against them, my enhanced strength meant nothing. One of them seemed to desire my head far more than the others. When they took me prisoner, I must admit, I began to worry. I thought that I was truly in over my head and unable to get myself out of that situation. Thankfully, the Decepticons were careless and I managed to slip right under their noses. They will be after us as well, never mind Umbrella. If I was able to outwit them, then Simmons shouldn't be a problem."

Wesker turned around and walked over to Russell. He had removed his glasses.

"Let me worry about him and the old man. I know how to deal with the likes of them. What you need to do now is go to Canada like I told you, keep Joshua Darby safe, and get yourself some rest. When we find the boy and his guardians, I will need you at full capacity. Keep a sharp eye out for Autobot activity, but take no action until I give the order. I will contact you soon enough.

Russell nodded to his Captain and took charge of Wesker's men. Leaving only one aircraft behind, they all left the area as Wesker had instructed. Wesker put his sunglasses back on, entered the remaining aircraft, and flew off in a different direction. Before the week was out, he would no longer have to answer to either Simmons or Spencer.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"' _The terrorist organization known as M.E.C.H. had stolen the experimental fusion reactor from a military transport with the intent on using it to hold a major city hostage. When they reached Jasper, located in Nevada, they were involved in an accident which caused the reactor to become unstable and detonate, destroying the small town in the process. Fortunately, the town was evacuated beforehand since the reactor was heading in that direction. No arrests have been made_.'"

Fowler read out loud President Bedford's official statement regarding Jasper, Nevada's destruction.

"Mr. President, the public is gonna poke holes through this story like a bad movie script."

"I don't doubt that, Fowler, but it's the best I could come up with. We didn't have time to think up a cover story since this disaster wasn't our doing. What happened out there, William?"

Fowler sighed in exasperation.

"The Decepticons made a move on the Autobots. Somehow, they found their base."

"And we're sure that Umbrella wasn't behind it?"

"I don't think so, Sir. I mean, it's possible. But I just don't see the 'Cons and Umbrella working together."

Fowler could see that The President was taking the city's destruction very personally.

"At least the town was cleared before it all went to hell. Thank you for that, Williams."

"I managed to contact the families of Miko Nakedai and Rafael Esquivel as well. They know that their kids are safe."

"But not Jackson Darby's family?"

"June Darby _is_ his only family and they've both been with the Autobots."

Bedford covered his mouth and nose between his hands, signs of his stress. Fowler did not envy the man. There was a lot that he would have to answer to because of this mess.

"Have the Autobots contacted you yet? Can we be sure that they escaped the explosion?"

"Sir, you know all about their ground bridge technology. Optimus Prime had any number of protocols set in place in the event that Outpost Omega One was compromised. I know he got them all out of there. The B.S.A.A. too, he took them into account, I'm sure of it."

"Then they're our only lead. If they're in the wind, looking for ways to contact us, Director Clive O'Brian may be our best way to track them down. He runs the B.S.A.A. We need to contact him immediately"

"I'll do that, Mr. President."

Before he could, however, Leon Kennedy and Helena Harper walked into the President's office.

"Mr. President." Leon said urgently.

"Agent Kennedy, Agent Harper."

Leon noticed Fowler in the room and turned his attention to him.

"What the hell happened out there, Fowler? Jasper's a smoking hole in the ground and I know we didn't push the big red button."

"We've got a dozen different terrorist organizations taking credit for this disaster, but none of them have the kind of weaponry to do something like that?" Helena followed up. "What is going on?"

Leon took a breath to calm down.

"Did Umbrella do this? Is it connected to the Darby kid?" He asked.

Fowler didn't know how to answer that question, so he looked back to President Bedford. The Commander and Chief nodded his head at him, letting him know to answer truthfully.

"No." Fowler said. "This wasn't Umbrella."

Leon seemed relieved, but Fowler knew that more questions were being thought up.

"Then who?"

President Bedford removed his glasses and inhaled deeply.

"Sit down, Leon, you too, Harper. It's time you both knew the truth."

The two looked at each other, looking wary of whatever they were about to learn. They each took a seat across from the President's desk. Fowler stood to the side and remained silent.

"What I'm about to tell you can never be repeated outside of this office. You both know how that works."

Leon and Helena nodded in agreement.

"In the years since you've both learned of Umbrella and the things they do behind closed doors, you have seen things that go beyond human belief. You've witnessed monstrosities and abominations that should not exist, that should never even be considered. You've seen what nightmares actually look like in the real world and somehow managed to hold on to your sanity."

The looks of confusion they both wore showed that they had no idea where the President was going with this.

"Having said that, there is still some things that you may find it hard to believe or to accept. But I have never lied to either you before and I assure you, what you are about to hear is the truth. With all that you've seen, I ask that you keep an open mind and believe in the impossible, as you have seen the impossible before."

Fowler could see the puzzlement in their expressions, the nervousness behind it. The world as they knew was about to be changed forever.

"Do you believe that we are not alone in the universe, that alien life exists beyond our world?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Optimus and Ratchet were both working to get their communication system online. Optimus had gotten permission from Director O'Brian to contact Fowler and provide him with the coordinates to their blacksite. Optimus, however, feared for the worse about contacting Agent Fowler. He was afraid to find out that Jasper was not evacuated in time and that Miko and Rafael's family were caught in the blast the destroyed the town. They had heard about it shortly after escaping through the ground bridge.

"It should be online now, Optimus."

Optimus went over to the console and began powering it on and communications going up.

"Ratchet, are you certain that our new location can isolate radio waves to avoid detection?"

"Director O'Brian had his own isolation tech put in place before we began setting up this alternative base. I checked to make sure that it was up to specs of what we worked with back in..."

Ratchet didn't want to say it and Optimus understood why. Neither wanted to admit that Jasper, a place that had become home to them, was gone. It may not have been as painful as leaving Cybertron, but it hurt all the same.

"We are at a disadvantage, however, Optimus." Ratchet said. "We no longer have a functioning ground bridge. Try as I might, I could not build another one with the spare parts we had left. If this base is compromised like the last, we will not have that means of escape."

"This base will _not_ be compromised, Ratchet." Optimus said. "I will not allow it."

As he spoke, he looked over to the other side of the hangar were June was resting. After she had gone through surgery, Jill had convinced the medical staff to release her to the Autobot hangar so she could remain close to them. She was kept under close observation by Rebecca and Jill. Optimus had not left the hangar since she was brought back. Even though she would make a full recovery, she would be in great pain when she finally woke up, which was estimated in another day at the earliest. Seeing her like this filled Optimus with heavy sadness. It filled him with anger at the same time. He tried not to think of Jack, fearing he would not be able to control it.

"We have a moderate supply of energon here, but it won't last forever. Without the ground bridge, locating more before the Decepticons will be difficult." Ratchet said.

"Let us recover from what he had just escaped, old friend. We will worry about or supplies later."

With that Optimus began contacting Fowler through his previous means of communication. Hopefully, receiving a call from an unknown source wouldn't cause him to ignore it. The call went unanswered for a few moments, then it connected.

 _"This is Fowler. Who is this?"_

"It is good to hear from you again, Agent Fowler."

There was a pause on the other end.

 _"Optimus."_ A relief filled response. _"Jesus Christ, you're alive."_

"Very much so, my friend, as are the rest of my Autobots."

 _"And the kids, June, are they okay?"_

Optimus hated to lie to Fowler, but he didn't want to worry the aging government agent.

"Alive and well, Agent Fowler."

 _"Thank God...The B.S.A.A.?"_

Optimus became grim, not that Fowler could see it.

"They have suffered...numerous casualties."

 _"My God...What happened, Prime? How did the Decepticons find the base?"_

"Albert Wesker had learned of our location and given it to Megatron."

 _"What?!"_

"It would seem that they had formed a temporary alliance."

 _"So Umbrella_ was _behind this! How did_ they _find the base?"_

"That is not important Agent Fowler. What is important is that you managed to evacuate Jasper before the Decepticons destroyed it."

 _"I sent out a report that a category five storm was heading their way and the town was cleared within the hour. Nobody was in the city when it got burned down. You can tell Miko and Raf that their families are okay."_

Optimus sighed in relief.

"Thank Primus."

 _"Optimus, are you sure that this team up with Umbrella and the 'Cons has been broken off."_

"I am, Agent Fowler. Wesker had released several B.O.W.s outside of our base and set them upon both Autobots and Decepticons alike. Megatron would not take such a betrayal lightly. However, I cannot be certain that all of Wesker's bio-organic weapons were destroyed in the blast. As unlikely as it seems, we need to be certain that none had escaped."

 _"I'll inform the President. He'll send the D.S.O. out there to make sure none of those ugly bastards got away. I hate to say it, but Megatron did us a favor by destroying Jasper."_

"The irony isn't lost upon us either, Fowler." Ratchet decided to add.

 _"Good to know you're still alive, Doc. Alright, I'll report this to the President. But Prime, you guys have got to be more careful. This cannot happen again. Please Optimus, we're counting on you to end this."_

Optimus looked regretful.

"We have made mistakes, Fowler, and they have cost your world dearly. We will not make them again. You have my word."

 _"Your word is enough. You keep those kids safe, Optimus, and watch yourself."_

"You do the same, Agent Fowler."

Optimus ended the call and looked back to Ratchet.

"I should've scanned all of you when you returned from your battle with Silas. I would've found that tracking device and got rid of it before Wesker could zero in on us."

"The fault lies with all of us, old friend. We fell for Wesker's trap and Jasper paid the price of our failures."

"The kids, too."

Optimus closed his eyes as he thought of his three human Autobots. On top of June being injured, Rafael and Miko had undergone a worrisome change. Neither had been willing to leave their guardians side since their arrival to this new base. Miko hadn't been her usual, energetic self. Rafael had trouble sleeping the night before. Both of them were clearly traumatized by what happened and Optimus feared that they would endure the same stress that Jack had as a child. He was the most alarming of them all.

"Ratchet...how is Jackson?"

Ratchet's expression was all Optimus needed to see.

"He still hasn't spoken to anyone, not Jill, not Arcee. He hasn't said a word since we arrived here."

"I had tried to speak with him yesterday, but he was unresponsive. Perhaps, I should try again."

"He hasn't eaten anything either and he hasn't slept a wink. All he's done is stare at the floor with this look that seems like he sees something we don't, clutching the Key to Vector Sigma like his life depends on it."

Optimus looked up at that.

"Optimus, he needs help. Something is wrong with him and no one knows what to do."

This all bothered Optimus to his spark and he was not going to make the same mistake as last time.

"I will go see him. Perhaps, I can break through to him this time."

"Please, Optimus. He's been this way since I saved him from that monster."

Optimus knew what monster Ratchet was talking about, having seen it himself. It made sense that the sight of it would put Jack in the state that he was in.

"Where is he now?"

"Where he's been since yesterday, the munitions storage room."

Optimus was about to leave when the sound of June groaning took his attention. Optimus immediately walked over to the young mother, kneeling by her side. The worry in his optics was very uncharacteristic of his stoic personality. June slowly opened her eyes and was greeted with the warm expression of the Prime.

"Optimus?" She said weakly.

"It is alright, June. You are safe."

She went to say something else, but ended up groaning in pain.

"Easy...you are very injured."

Optimus was surprised that she had regained consciousness so soon. June took many labored breaths, clearly causing pain to her broken ribs. Optimus could tell what was on her mind.

"Optimus...where's my son?"

"Jackson is here, he is alright."

June exhaled as tears escaped her eyes.

"Thank God...I thought I lost..."

"You have not lost your son, June. The four of you are in a safe location."

June looked around as best as she could.

"Where are we?"

"Home...for now...June...Jasper is gone."

June lied back down and Optimus could see the pain settling in. June had lost the place she had called home, just as he had. It wasn't the same as losing a home planet, but it didn't make what she felt hurt any less, he knew.

"Where's Jack? I wanna see my son." She said tearfully.

"Ms. Darby..."

Worry came upon her face.

"What happened?"

"We...do not know. But Jack has been...distressed since we escaped Jasper."

June's eyes were wide and one could see her motherly instincts kicking in. Optimus always admired that about her. She attempted to get up on her own, straining herself in the process, and was stopped by the other medics.

"Please, I have to see my son."

A large digit rested on her torso, causing her to calm down. Optimus then gently picked her up and placed her in a nearby wheelchair that was provided for her. One of the medics took to pushing her along as they all left for the ammunition storage room.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Optimus, Ratchet, and June walked down the hall that lead to the munitions storage. June was still being pushed by an unknown medical officer. They came to an open room where Arcee and Jill were standing outside, leaning against the wall. They both noticed June and went to her immediately.

"June!" Arcee said as she knelt in front of her. "You're okay."

June smiled through the pain she was feeling, happy that her son's guardian had made it out of that war zone. Jill walked up and gently hugged her.

"Thank God, you're up again. You had me worried."

June returned the hug with her unslung and un-casted arm.

"How do you feel?" Jill asked.

"In a lot of pain...but that isn't the least bit important right now. Where's Jack?"

Again, that question was met with uneasy looks.

"He's in there?" Arcee said as she pointed to the open room. "He's...not well."

"Did either of you see what happened?"

"I didn't." Jill said. "Miko says that Jack led that B.O.W. away from them. When Ratchet came back with him, he was a wreck."

Jill tried to remember the B.O.W. that Jill spoke of, the one that did this to her.

"When I rescued Jack from it, it had him cornered. He got a good look at it and I suppose that's what's causing him to act like this." Ratchet said.

"What do mean, Ratchet?" June asked.

"It had...It had a human face. It wasn't mutated all the way, it seemed. As a medical officer, _I_ was disturbed by it. I can only imagine what it was like for Jack."

June then remembered how Jack was on the chopper ride out of Raccoon City. He had shut himself off from everything, burying himself in his own world until they met up with his father. Jill stepped behind June, taking control of her wheelchair. The two entered the storage room where they saw Jack sitting on top of a crate. His head was buried into his knees, one arm wrapped around them, the other behind them, clutching the Key to Vector Sigma. It was six years ago all over again and June felt as helpless as ever. As Jill pushed her to her son, Arcee stepped in and stayed by the doorway. Optimus stood in front of it while Ratchet listened in from outside. Jack hadn't even acknowledged them in the slightest, almost like he didn't know they were there. June was pushed up in front of her son, her eyes watering up from what she was seeing.

"Jack?" She said through her strain.

For the first time, Jack lifted his head up. His eye was bloodshot red, his cheek wet from his tears, and bags under his eye from not sleeping at all. June couldn't stand to sight of it and she couldn't hold her tears back. Jack slowly got up walked to her, kneeling down to be at eye level. He took her hand and she felt how much his were shaking. A sad look fell upon Jack and he buried his head in her lap as his tears fell even more. June held her son tightly, ignoring her own pain.

"It's okay, Jackson. It's okay...it's over. We're safe, now."

" _No...we aren't._ "

Jill was gripping the handles of the wheelchair in anger. Arcee looked down in shame. Optimus stared at the mother and son, sorrow all over his face.

" _Mom...I...I saw him_."

"I know, Jack...I know what you saw. I can't even imagine what it was like."

" _You don't_...'hic' _you don't understand_."

Jack was beginning to grow more hysterical which increased the worry of everyone there.

"What don't we understand, Jack?" Jill asked.

" _I-I 'hic'...I saw his face_."

June's eyes were growing with worry and fear. She picked up her son's head to look him in his single eye.

"What...what did you see?"

Jack looked away, clearly not wanting to say it. June pulled his face back to look at her.

"Jackson...talk to us. Tell us what you saw?"

Jack sniffed back and grew more nervous.

" _I can't..._ "

Arcee stepped forward and knelt down.

"Jack, partner, look at me."

Jack hesitantly did so.

"Let us help you. Tell us what's wrong so we can help you."

Jack then looked at Optimus, who had entered the room. Once his eye met the pair of blue optics, shame appeared on Jack's face and he looked away instantly.

" _It's my fault...They...did it because of me_."

"Jackson, it is _not_ your fault." June said with her hand of Jack's cheek. "Don't let Umbrella off the hook by blaming yourself."

"What did they do, Jackson?" Optimus finally said. "What did you see in that B.O.W.?"

"... _His-his face...it was..._ "

Everyone waited for Jack to finish, but he seemed unable to.

"What Jack? What was his face?" June asked.

Jack shut his eye tightly and gripped June's hand just as much. This was painful for him, June realized that.

" _IT WAS DAD_ _!_ " He cried out.

Everyone went silent, wide eyed, and shocked. June's mouth hung open as her son broke down in her lap. Jill had let her arms fall as she took a step back to take in what Jack had just said. Arcee was frozen on her knee, staring at her broken partner. Ratchet looked on as Optimus hid his face, which he knew was to hide his anger.

" _They found him, Mom! They turned him...and it's my fault! They went after him...because of me!_ "

Jack continued to fall apart in front of his mother, breaking her heart into pieces. She shakily put her hand on his head, but she was unable to speak. What could she say? How could she comfort Jackson after something like this? She rubbed his head as it shook from his crying, feeling weak as his mother. How could they? How could Umbrella do this? For the third time, they had broken her son. They needed to be stopped, before there was nothing left of him.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Leon sat in his seat with his head down, lost in his thoughts. Helena was the same way. Fowler had left to take a call while President Bedford told them of the Autobots and Decepticons. Even after everything he had seen, Leon had to admit, this was a new one.

"So...Aliens." He said.

"Cybertronians to be exact." Bedford responded.

"And they've been here..."

"Since 1984."

"I see...and we trust them?"

"All you need to do is have one conversation with Optimus Prime and you will know who he is and where he stands. His Autobots follow him loyally. He's what his people call a 'Prime' which is regarded as the highest honor in Cybertronian culture. The Decepticons are the ones you need to fear. Megatron's belief that he should've been named Prime led to war and that's what destroyed their home world. When they brought their destruction here, Optimus reached out to us and formed an alliance so that we wouldn't suffer the consequences of Megatron's ego. So yes, Leon, we trust the Autobots."

Helena then spoke up.

"But what do they have to do with all of this, with Jackson Darby?"

"From I understand, through a series of unforeseen circumstances, Mr. Darby had witnessed the Autobots in action along with two others, Rafael Esquivel and Miko Nakadai. Believing that their lives would be in danger from the Decepticons, Optimus had assigned three of his subordinates to act as their guardians and protect them from Megatron's forces. When they had learned about Umbrella and that they were after Jackson and his mother, June Darby, they had become aligned with the B.S.A.A. in a joint effort to take them down."

"So what happened in Jasper? Was that the Decepticons or Umbrella?" Leon asked.

"Fowler tells me that the Decepticons had led an attack on the Autobot base. Megatron holds a Cybertronian warship known as the Nemesis which has the capabilities of destroying an entire city, or this case, a small town. They were the ones behind Jasper's destruction."

Leon ran his hand through his hair as he took this all in.

"So...are they all dead?"

"I don't believe so. Fowler hasn't received word yet, but he believes that Optimus had put his emergency protocols to use when the attack began. He's simply waiting for a response back."

"So...what happens now? If the Autobots are in the wind, then so is Jackson Darby. We still don't know why Umbrella wants him and even with these Autobots, he's exposed."

President Bedford stood up and walked in front of his desk.

"When Fowler receives word from the Autobots that they are alive and in a secure location, I want you both to head out there and offer them your assistance."

"Sir?" Leon asked.

"You are to put together a team and you will help Optimus Prime take these bastards down."

"Mr. President, my job is to protect _you_." Leon said.

"Your job is to protect the people, Leon. We cannot stand on the sidelines any longer. If it involves Simmons, you are not to take any part in it. He can't know of your involvement with the B.S.A.A. But you both know Umbrella and you know how to strike at them. I need you out there so we could put an end to this nightmare once and for all."

"And what about you, Mr. President?" Helena asked. "Who will protect you?"

"Any number of Secret Service Agents looking to prove themselves by taking a bullet for me. I know, without you two, that means I won't have the very best guarding my life. But it also means I have two of the very best going to war with Umbrella. My life cannot compare to the security that will come from their downfall. Can I count on you, Leon?"

Leon took a moment and stood to face the President.

"You can always count on me, Sir."

"And you, Agent Harper."

Helena stood up as well.

"I owe a lot to you, Sir, so does my sister. I won't let you down."

There was much pride in the President from what Leon could see.

"No Commander and Chief has ever had more dedicated or loyal subordinates at his side."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Leon waited in one of the rooms of the White House as Fowler had another discussion with the President. He was currently on his phone, waiting for an answer. The number he had dialed was the latest he had managed to track down.

 _"Hello."_ A soft voice came from the other end.

"...Ada." He said.

 _"Is that you, handsome? I didn't expect a call from you. What brought this on? Are you about to ask me on a date?"_

"Ada...why didn't you tell me that Jackson Darby was just a kid?"

There was silence on the other end.

 _"Because I didn't think it mattered."_

"Have you heard about Jasper, Nevada?"

 _"Of course, I have. It's been all over the news."_

"I know you've done your homework. You know that Jasper was the kid's hometown."

Another pause.

 _"That wasn't Umbrella...That is not how they operate. They wanted the kid alive."_

"Why? Why is Jackson Darby so important?"

 _"I don't know, Leon. I didn't ask."_

"Well, the kid is still alive."

 _"What? How?"_

"That's not important. I have a job for you?"

Leon knew Ada well enough to imagine the skeptic look on her face.

 _"A job? From you?"_

"Ada..."

 _"Leon, even if I believed you, you know I work above your pay grade."_

"If it's about the money, I still have plenty from the bonus I got for saving the President's daughter."

 _"And how do I know this isn't a trap?"_

"Because what I want you to do, no one would ask you to do."

 _"Alright, I'm listening."_

"I need you to break into the home of Derek C. Simmons."

Now, Leon imagined the shocked look on Ada's face.

 _"Are you insane?!"_

"Ada, listen to me."

 _"I don't care if you paid me with all the gold in Russia and week as my plaything, I am not getting involved with that man."_

"Ada, I know why you didn't tell me about the kid. I know why you pretend to be more coldhearted than you really are."

 _"Leon, now isn't the time fo..."_

"I remember what you said about Sherry back in Raccoon City, about her carrying the burden of her parent's sins. I know that hurting kids is a line that you won't cross. But I also know of who you have to be in order to survive the life that you live.

Ada was quiet on the other end.

"That's why you told me about Jackson Darby, so that I can help him. Well, I need your help to do that. All I need you to do is search his home and find anything that connects to the name Oswell E. Spencer."

 _"Leon, do you_ _know_ _who that is?"_

"Find out where he's been hiding and give me the location. That's all I'm asking."

 _"You say that like it's something small. You're gonna get yourself killed, Leon."_

"If that's what it takes, Ada."

He heard he exhale on the other end.

 _"Well, I don't want that...Leon...I'll do it."_

"Thank you, Ada."

 _"You won't thank me when you hear my price."_

"How much do you want?"

 _"...Twenty thousand."_

"Th...That's it?"

 _"And one night."_

"One night?"

 _"One night together, where you're not a government agent...and I'm not a spy."_

Leon thought about what she was asking. It was something he wanted, he couldn't deny it. But what he wanted was more than just one night. He wanted a life...with her.

"If that's what you want...then we have a deal."

 _"Alright, then. I'll be in touch."_

"Thank you, Ada."

Before he hung up...

 _"Leon."_

"Yes?"

 _"...Whatever good you see in me...it comes from you. Without it, I_ am _as cold as I pretend to be. Whatever you plan on doing when I find Spencer for you, don't you dare die on me...Don't make me a bad guy."_

The line was disconnected and Leon stared at his phone in disbelief. Did she really mean all that? Leon didn't want to fantasize, to think about what could never be. But if they did bring down Umbrella with the Autobot's help...could he and Ada really be together?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 _"These are the coordinates you are to arrive at. Don't be late, Wesker."_

Two things annoyed Wesker, unnecessary coordinates in place of a simple address and text messages. Why he bought a disposable phone capable of such was beyond him. Simmons was having his little fun, no doubt, annoying Wesker any way he could. All he wanted was to get this over with. When he arrived at his destination, an abandoned factory of some sort, he laughed to himself at how stupid Simmons seemed to think he was. Wesker checked the ammo of his weapon, a 9mm handgun not unlike the one he carried during his years in S.T.A.R.S., and proceeded into the obvious trap. The inside was empty, derelict and seemingly devoid of any human interaction for years.

"Where are you, Simmons? You summoned me all the way here for a reason." Wesker called out.

Several bright lights were activated, blinding Wesker temporarily.

"Indeed he did, Albert Wesker." A voice from one of the suspended platforms responded.

Wesker knew that voice.

"One, is that you up there?"

A tall, black man stepped forward into the light. He was bald and clean shaven and seemed completely stoic. This was James Shade, also known simply as One.

"Hello, Wesker. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Wesker looked around and saw that several members of the Umbrella Black Ops had taken positions around the factory, each aiming their weapons at Wesker.

"A stupid question, I know, but Simmons isn't here, is he?"

One smiled, something he didn't do often.

"I'm afraid not, Wesker. Simmons couldn't make it, but he wanted me to give you his regards."

Derek Simmons was painfully predictable. But it did surprise Wesker that he had sent One to deal with him.

"And so he sent you, the leader of Umbrella's Sanitation Team, to liquidate me. You've moved up it seems."

"In his own words, you are a stain that's been in need of cleaning for six years. He felt it was the perfect job for me."

"And the hit squad? Why did Simmons feel the need to send so many to get rid of me?"

"He wanted to make sure the job was done properly. Call it overkill if you wish, but you have a terrible habit of escaping death. Only Agent Hunk has a greater talent of that."

"Sounds to me like Simmons fears what might happen if you fail."

"Not a possibility, Wesker."

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

Beside One, a small, Hispanic woman pointed her Heckler & Koch G36K directly at Wesker. He could see that despite her size, she was not one to be trifled with.

"Can I shoot this asshole now, or are you two gonna keep this little back and forth going?"

One looked to his subordinate.

"Rain, patience."

"Screw that, I came here to kill someone."

"You don't seem to command a lot of respect, do you One?" Wesker mocked.

"Ya' hear that, One? Blondie down there's talkin' shit about you. Say the word and I'll put a bullet in'em."

Wesker's smirk clearly got under her skin right away. One signaled her to hold her fire.

"Wesker, I want you to know something before you die. I never liked you. I've always found your self-importance to be unbearable and when Simmons sent me on this mission, I looked forward to it. However, I respect your ambition. I also respect your resourcefulness, having survived the Arklay Mountains incident among other things. You truly were one of Umbrella's best."

The two stared each other down.

"You have no idea, One."

"Alright, I'm done with this jerk-off." Rain said as she re-aimed her weapon.

Wesker didn't sweat a single drop.

"Open fire." He calmly ordered before the hail of bullets closed in on Wesker.

They had no idea what they were dealing with.

Wesker vanished before a single bullet could touch them, causing them to cease fire right away. One was shocked to say the least, as was Rain.

"What the hell? What just happened?" Rain asked urgently.

One looked around the factory, trying to spot Wesker.

"Is this a trick, Wesker?" He yelled.

"No tricks."

All guns pointed at a spot in the platforms that was casted in shadow. Wesker stepped forward without a single wound.

"How the fu..." Rain began.

"Shoot him!" One yelled.

The closest began firing at Wesker, and just like before, he vanished from where he was standing. Even on the narrow passage of the platform, Wesker was able to move between the bullets, taking shots at his attackers between takes. A few moved forward to try and corner Wesker, but were stopped by the sound of something falling by their feet.

"Grenade!"

An explosion threw those that weren't caught in the blast off balance, allowing Wesker to move forward with great speed. Several well aimed shot were unable to hit their target, and Wesker responded in kind. He ran straight for one of the operative, firing point blank into his torso and killing him. Using him and his armor as a shield, Wesker fired back at the Umbrella Ops, killing several more. With his strength, he threw the dead soldier forward and leaped high into the beams of the ceiling. The guns aimed upwards, but Wesker wasn't visible.

"Aim the lights up at the ceiling." One ordered.

As they did, several shot came down and hit each of the lights, leaving the soldiers looking in the dark. Rain was beginning to look nervous, as was One.

"One, what the hell is going on?" Rain asked anxiously.

"I have no idea, Rain."

"And we didn't bring night goggles, why?"

"Just focus on finding him and killing him."

"Yeah, just lampshade that why don'tcha."

Wesker counted four soldiers minus One and his second, too easy for him. He silently made his way down behind one agent that was away from the others. His gun was now empty, but it still had a purpose. With a forceful throw, the gun hit the back of the operative's head, sending him to the floor bloody and dead. The others reacted to the sound and saw Wesker approaching.

"I see'em!" One soldier yelled before they opened fire.

Wesker dodged their gunfire as he did before. He ran for the first of the three, grabbing him by the arm that held his weapon. Wesker kneed him hard in the stomach, no doubt causing massive internal trauma, which doubled him over. Wesker took this time to reach around his head and grab his chin with his free hand and snap his neck with ease. He let him fall and went for the next one. Dodging his fire as well, Wesker got close enough to kick him in the neck with deadly force and send his over the railing. The final one had resorted to using his sidearm, making dodging his bullets even easier. Wesker closed the distance and grabbed his arm with both hands. Going behind him, he twisted his arm in a way that broke it and pierced the bone through his skin. The operative fell to his knees as he screamed in pain. With his hand still holding his weapon, Wesker put it to the back of his head and let off one bullet. His brains splattered all over the platform and Wesker turned to see the end of a rifle barrel with Rain looking very angry behind it.

"Let's see you dodge this, bitch."

She fired a single round and was knocked back by an open palm to her torso. Wesker had indeed dodged her bullet, ducking beneath her weapon just as she had pulled the trigger. Before she could recover, she felt Wesker's hand around her throat, lifting her up off her feet. She looked down and saw him examining her closely.

"You have a poor attitude and you don't seem like the kind of soldier who follows orders. Still, you are quite the marksman. Several of your shots came very close to hitting their target."

Rain was struggling in his grip, straining her throat even faster.

"I could use someone like you in my unit."

Rain was able to respond with a spit to Wesker's face.

"So be it."

Wesker gripped suddenly and crushed her throat completely. She went limp and he dropped her unceremoniously. He looked up and saw that One was now aiming his weapon at him.

"One, you have already seen what little that will do?"

"What have you done, Wesker? What happened to you?"

Wesker walked forward, One stepped back, never lowering his weapon.

"I've ascended, James. I have become greater than what I once was. Isn't that what we've been working towards? Isn't that the purpose of Umbrella?"

Wesker rushed forward and grabbed One's arm. He twisted it painfully and caused him to drop his gun. One was brought to his knees as Wesker stood over him.

"Tell me why. Why does he want me dead?"

"Simmons _never_ liked you, Wesker. He has wanted you dead since the day he met you."

"I'm well aware of that, James. However, I wasn't referring to him. Simmons may have called upon you, but he does _not_ give the orders. The old man sent you to kill me. Why would he do that?"

One grinned and bared the pain as best he as he could and answered.

"He knows about the boy, about Jackson Darby."

"What?" Wesker asked viciously.

"He's the key to an enhanced race of humans...and you tried to keep him from Spencer, from immortality."

Wesker hid his anger, choosing instead to focus on how Spencer could have gotten this information.

"He wants the boy...and he needs you out of the way."

"That arrogant, old fool. The feeling is mutual."

Wesker let go of One's hand and took him by the throat.

"There is something I'd like you to know, James." He said as he began applying pressure. "I've never liked you either. You were always a good little soldier who followed orders without question. I could see the battery in your back as you marched to the old man's fife and drum. But, I _also_ respected you. You are an efficient commander and a remarkable soldier. I always knew that if I was going to achieve my goals..."

Wesker held his grip even tighter.

"I would _have_ to kill you someday."

With that, Wesker tore his throat right out. One choked on his last, bloody breath and fell dead to the ground. Wesker watched the life drain from his eyes.

"What a waste." He said to himself.

Wesker jumped down to ground level and began leaving the warehouse. As he walked outside, he reached for his phone to contact Russell.

"Russell, it's me. Yes, I'm still alive. Is Joshua Darby secure? Good, listen closely. We have a rat in our ranks and I need you to sniff him out. It wasn't just Simmons, it was Spencer. He knows about Jackson Darby and now he wants the boy for himself. No, you remain where you are and find out who's been feeding Simmons information, but don't kill him. I'll deal with him when I come back."

Wesker stopped at the fence.

"I'm going to visit the old man, pay him my respects. I shouldn't be long. Find this informant, Russell. I expect him to be waiting for me upon my return."

Wesker hung up the phone and took out his disposable phone. Wesker examined it for a moment and then dropped it on the floor before crushing it beneath his boot. Wesker wasn't taking orders from Spencer's little puppet any longer.

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The Autobots, the humans of Team Prime, and the agents that had escaped Jasper all sat around the hangar as what they were just told by Optimus hung over their heads. Jack had gone to his quarters in an effort to calm himself down. Arcee didn't wish to leave his side, so she stayed with him. June, however, was unable to help Jack and couldn't bear to watch him fall to pieces. She left him with his guardian, praying that she could help him like she had the last two times. As Ratchet investigated Joshua Darby's history, trying to find out how and when Umbrella had captured him, the rest of the aligned teams were suffering low spirits.

"His Dad?" Bulkhead asked in disbelief.

Optimus grim expression was enough reconfirmation. Bulkhead looked down with the same shocked expression they all wore when this disturbing development was brought to them.

"Even Megatron never went this low." Bulkhead continued. "At least he waited until they were snuffed out before he brought our guys back. Wesker is lower than any Decepticon I ever met."

Optimus kept his focus on June, who had begun shutting down just as Jackson did. She sat by a table in her wheelchair as her untouched meal grew colder. She hadn't looked up once since she was brought back to the hangar. Next to her was Jill, who looked up at Optimus in worry. Neither of them knew what to do to help her.

"I don't get it, though." Wheeljack spoke up. "If Jack's old man wasn't around, why would Umbrella think he could help them find'em?"

Chris was cleaning his pistol to keep himself and his anger in check. If he wasn't so worried for the Autobot's kids, he would be at the shooting range, releasing some of that anger.

"Wesker must've gotten desperate. We should've known he would do this."

"Yeah, but obviously, he doesn't know about us. Why infect him with the virus? Why send'em after Jack?"

"Because humans are just guinea pigs to Umbrella." Chris answered angrily. "And Wesker is a sadistic bastard who probably just wanted to break Jack. That's how he operates."

Miko and Raf both looked alarmed by something. Miko stood up on Bulkhead's shoulder.

"What about _our_ families? Would Umbrella go after them too?" She asked in a frightened toned.

"Wesker doesn't know about you two?" Jill answered back. "He doesn't have a reason to go after your families."

"Plus, we still have our people watching them." Barry added. "But if we put too many on them, Umbrella will take notice and wonder why we're protecting them. You and your families are safe, we promise."

Miko and Raf looked only to take slight comfort in that.

"I found something." Ratchet announced.

Ratchet observed his findings, becoming confused as he did.

"It says her that there's been an open missing person's report on Joshua Darby for over a month now."

Everyone gave Ratchet their attention. Even June looked up slightly.

"But...that was before all this even started." Ratchet followed.

"Ratchet, can you determine Joshua Darby's last known whereabouts?" Optimus asked.

"I already have, Optimus. Just before he disappeared, he crossed over into Ontario from Michigan. He never made it back to the States."

Chris stood up from his seat.

"Umbrella has operatives all over Canada and Alaska. Anyone trying to hide from them would do well to stay away from those places."

Jill watched June closely, who had become very tense and began tightening her fist.

"But that doesn't make any sense?" Rebecca joined. "Why would they go after Jack's father to track him and June down? They couldn't have been that hard to find. How would they even know that they were in Raccoon City? If Joshua Darby wasn't even there, why go for him and not them?"

The sound a something hitting a table and glass shattering interrupted this development. Everyone looked to its source and saw June Darby, shaking and bleeding from her good hand. She had smashed it down on her glass of water.

"June." Jill said both shocked and worried.

June muttered something too low for anyone to hear.

"What?" Jill asked.

"That..." June began clenching her bloody fist again, digging the bits of glass still in it deeper. "Motherfucker!" She as she slammed her fist on the table.

Everyone, the Autobots, the agents, Optimus and Jill most of all, were in utter shock at June's sudden outburst. June was still shaking, crying once again.

"What is it, June?" A worried Jill asked.

"That bastard!" She choked on words. "He did this!"

Optimus, unable to take the sound of June's crying, came forward.

"June, who are you talking about?" He asked.

June's face was hidden, but Optimus could feel her anger.

"Jack's father...he took one of the vaccines with him...He..."

June paused for a moment, cradling her bleeding hand.

"A few months before he left us, we got into this huge argument. We were having money troubles and it looked like we were going to lose the house. Joshua knew about Raccoon City. He believed what happened. He knew about Jack getting bit and the vaccine saving him. He wanted to try and sell it so we wouldn't have to move. He thought we were gonna be rich. I told him that it was too dangerous, that Umbrella would come after us, but he wouldn't listen."

Jill looked like she had remembered something.

"And I had to come back and show him all the people that Umbrella had either killed or made disappear to cover their tracks. That got him unstuck on stupid."

As June revealed more about Jack's father, Ratchet did some more research into him.

"I thought he understood. When he took the vaccine, I thought it was just for his own protection. He knew that Umbrella was dangerous." June continued.

Jill looked to come to a realization.

"Then we exposed them and he thought it'd be safe to look for a buyer. But...why'd he wait so long?" Jill added.

Ratchet looked back from his monitor.

"To pay off his gambling debts. If his bank records are of any indication, he owed _a lot_ of money."

The looks of disbelief spread to everyone. Optimus himself felt anger for a person he had never even met before.

"So, Jack's father tries to sell the vaccine to someone in Canada, gets popped by Umbrella and..." Chris stopped when he realized what happened.

"He gave us up." June whispered just loud enough to be heard. "His son...his own flesh and blood, and he sold him out to Umbrella...to that monster."

Optimus turned his back to everyone so they couldn't see his face. Everything that had happened, Jack's eye, June's injuries, both their fractured mental states, the destruction of Jasper, it was all because of him...the sire who had abandoned Jackson as a child. The worst of it, Jackson had blamed himself when it couldn't have been farther from the truth. Primus forgive him, but what Optimus felt in his spark was hatred for Joshua Darby. Only Albert Wesker burned away at him more. Optimus managed to calm himself, using the sounds of June's crying to replace his hate with sorrow. He looked back at her, saw the hurt of her former mate's betrayal. Optimus wasn't there for her when Jack was rescued. He would be there for her now.

"June." He said, but was cut off by the sight of Arcee from the hallway...and Jack standing next to her.

"Jackson." He said suddenly.

June looked up and saw her son staring back at her, still looking broken and lost.

"Jack?...How long were you standing there?" She asked.

"Long enough, Mom."

Jack walked up to his mother and hugged her tightly. She cried into chest as he held the back of her head.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you more, Jack."

Jack held her a little tighter, but then let go suddenly. He walked over to Optimus and stopped at his pedes. The Prime could barely recognize him. The stress had taken its toll.

"Optimus?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"I heard about Jasper."

Optimus had hoped that Arcee didn't tell him about that yet. He had enough misfortune for one day, he felt.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you did everything you could."

"Yes...and I have failed."

Jack kept his head down. Optimus recognized his shame, but did not know where it had originated.

"Optimus, do you think it's possible that...that thing...my father...survived?"

Optimus didn't want to think about what Joshua Darby had become, but he knew Jackson needed an answer.

"It is possible, Jackson, but highly unlikely. I don't expect that...your father could have been able to escape Jasper's destruction."

"But there's still a chance."

"A very small chance, but yes."

Jack clearly didn't like that answer.

"I see...Optimus, I need to ask you a favor."

"Anything, Jackson."

"If he _did_ survive, if he's still out there...you have to kill him."

Optimus had never thought that Jackson would ask for such a thing.

"Jackson..."

"Please, Optimus, promise me you will?"

Optimus was about to answer.

"We'll get'em, Jack, we promise."

Everyone looked over at Bulkhead.

"If he's still out there, we'll take care of'em for ya'. Both he and Wesker are gonna pay for what they did."

Jack responded with a look of horror, which caught Bulkhead by surprise.

"Bulkhead." Miko scolded.

"What?" He responded. "It's his fault this is even happening. Jack lost an eye because of that creep."

"That's enough, Bulkhead." Ratchet said.

"C'mon, Doc." He looked to Arcee. "You're with me, right 'Cee? Don't you think Jack deserves some revenge?"

"I don't want revenge, Bulkhead." Jack said sternly.

Bulkhead looked down to him, shocked to hear that.

"What? Why not? If this ain't about payback, why do you want us to kill him?"

Jack looked as if the answer should've been obvious.

"For one thing, he's dangerous. He's a B.O.W, a monster that'll kill anyone he sees if he's still alive. And yeah, he gave me up to Umbrella and caused all this to happen but..." Jack's eyes began to water. "He's still my father."

Bulkhead looked to regret his attitude just moments ago.

"He doesn't deserve this...to be some mindless _thing_...No one does, not even Silas, remember?"

Bulkhead looked away, clearly feeling ashamed. Optimus, however, felt a little hope in his spark that the young Prime hadn't been broken yet.

"When the time comes, Jackson." Optimus said to Jack. "You have my word as a Prime that I will free your father from Umbrella's cruelty."

Jack tearfully smiled at Optimus, only for it to disappear again. He walked back to Optimus, pulling this Key to Vector Sigma out of his pocket. He stood in front of Optimus, keeping his head down, and held the Key up to him. Optimus didn't like this.

"I don't understand."

"You were wrong, Optimus. I'm not a Prime, not even close. I'm not like you, I'm not strong...I'm just a scared little kid. I don't deserve to have this."

That did it. That crushed Optimus' spark. Wesker had done horrible things to Jackson and now, he was causing him to doubt himself. Optimus reluctantly took the Key from Jackson, shifting it back to its original size. Jack walked back to Arcee, who held a very sorrowful look on her face.

"Jackson." Optimus called.

Jack stopped, but he didn't look back.

"I will hold the Key until _you_ decide that you are worthy. But know this. Of the many mistakes I have made in my time, entrusting it to you was not one of them."

Jack stood where he was for a moment, but left all the same. Optimus sighed in regret. Now he understood why June felt so powerless.

"I'm sorry, Optimus." Ratchet said.

Optimus walked over to Arcee, who worryingly watched him walk down the hall to his quarters.

"Stay close to him, Arcee." He said.

Arcee looked to him confused.

"He should not be left alone. I...fear of what he might do to himself."

The implication made Arcee to gasp suddenly. She nodded to Optimus and followed Jack to his quarters. Optimus looked back to his team, who were all defeated by recent events. Rebecca was tending to June's hand, who had begun shutting down once again. He wanted to help her, to comfort her the way he should've the last time she was like this. But he felt that he couldn't. He couldn't help her, he couldn't help any of them, and so he retreated to his quarters to think about his failures.

After he left, Wheeljack walked over to Ratchet and handed him the Vehicon helm he had salvaged the day before.

"Wheeljack, why are you handing me a Decepticon helm?" Ratchet asked.

"These Vehicons, they have faces under those visors, right?"

"Yes, I believe they do."

"Good, then that should have all the parts you need for Jack's optic."

Ratchet was surprised by Wheeljack's thoughtfulness. All the Autobots were.

"Thank you, Wheeljack. I'm sure he will appreciate this."

Wheeljack looked down the hall where Jack, Arcee, And Optimus had gone.

"Yeah, well...the kid needs _somethin'_ good happen to him."

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Somewhere in Europe, secluded far away from civilization, Wesker stood in front of a mansion. He may have found text messages and unnecessary coordinates to be annoying, but two things he hated were cowardice and sentimentality. He despised those thing because he felt that they were what held mankind back as a species. Oswell E. Spencer was guilty of both, so attached to his family's estate, he had it remade brick for brick in Raccoon City. And as for cowardice, the very creation of Umbrella was rooted in his fear of mortality. He would face death soon enough. Wesker walked up to the entrance, two wooden brown doors fit for a mansion. There was a hesitance in Wesker, uncertainty he hadn't felt in years. He knew that behind these doors were monsters that Spencer filled his estate with to protect him. Wesker had seen many of them throughout his life. But for the first time since the Arklay Mountains, he would fighting against them. Even with his enhanced abilities, there was a small doubt of his survival. Yes, he may very well die here tonight. The door held his focus. For all he knew, behind it, right in the lobby, an army of Tyrants or Cerberus canines awaited him. He held his focus on the door, feeling as if it was the only thing in front of him. Everything else seemed shrouded in blackness. Wesker took one deep breath and strengthened his mind. As the door clicked open, Wesker entered the mansion. He was going to kill Spencer and Umbrella would be his.

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 **Told you it was going to be an angsty chapter.**

 **Alright, let's get this out of the way first. Jack is messed up for real. Actually saying out loud what that was back at the Autobot Base seemed to really push him ever further. I really wanted to capture the hopeless of the situation. If it was me, I wouldn't know how to help someone going through something like that. And now that the Autobots and June know how Umbrella found Jack, morale is pretty low. At least Jack might be getting his eye replaced soon. I promise that this won't become a pity party every chapter. Also, I've got June dropping an F-Bomb. Sorry if that seems out of character, but who wouldn't react that way?**

 **Some good news, Leon and Helena might be linking up with the Autobots pretty soon. I chose 1984 as the year the Autobots came to Earth because that's when the G1 cartoon first aired. I'm not really good at romance, but I hoped the thing going on between Leon and Ada is believable. I like Ada, but I wanted to give her and Leon's relationship more depth than just cat and mouse, like deep down, she wants to be good for him. And since I mentioned Helena Harper, anyone else want to see a Transformer femme voiced by Laura Bailey? Was there ever one? Someone let me know in the comments.**

 **And finally, we have Wesker. Joshua Darby is still alive and Wesker isn't ready to give up on Jack yet. I got two movie characters appearing in the chapter. I'm not crazy about the films, but I always like Michelle Rodriguez' character in the first and most recent film and I always like any character played by Colin Salmon. So, Wesker is ready to bite back at Spencer and Simmons. That whole focus on the door thing was meant to invoke the first games whenever you would enter a new room. Every time I saw those doors or those steps I was on my toes waiting for something to jump out at me.**

 **So, the last of my hiatus stockpile of Old Nightmare will go up on Tuesday. But that in no way means that I'm going back in hiatus. I intend to see this story to the end and I hope to bring you all along with me. Leave your comments and reviews and I will be back on Sunday with a new A.S.O.G. Cheers.**


	27. Chapter 27

Wesker couldn't help but laugh when he entered the main hall of the mansion. If he thought that Spencer was sentimental before, he was certain of it now. It looked almost identical on the inside to the mansion in the Arklay Mountains, from the white marble, red carpet, all the way to the rooms on either side. This man was beyond sentimental, he was obsessed. Yet another reason why Umbrella would benefit from his removal.

Wesker wasted no time and walked up to the one thing that was not shared with the previous mansion that he remembered, a set of immaculate doors at the top of the staircase. It had to be of some importance and Wesker hoped that it would lead to the old man. He also hoped that the mansion wasn't filled with ridiculous and unnecessary puzzles like the other one.

He approached the center staircase, expecting that things were not going to be this quiet for very long.

"That's far enough!"

Wesker stopped and glanced up to see the upper floor guarded by armed security, all aiming their weapons at him.

"He's expecting me, isn't he?" He asked.

"Don't move! Stay where you are!"

Wesker was smiling, not threatened by these men in the slightest.

"You know, he doesn't expect you to succeed."

"Be quiet! Gilliam, take his weapons and cuff him."

One of the security personal walked around the upper floor and down the staircase to Wesker. He could see that the hired security was unnerved by his uncaring demeanor.

"Keep'em up…or I'll shoot you right in the head." The agent said far less threatening than he probably intended.

Wesker looked the officer in the eye.

"Don't miss." Wesker said.

Wesker moved too fast for the following gunshot to hit him, but the agent was too slow to dodge the powerful blow to his head which either killed him or left him braindead. Wesker wasn't sure. Everyone moved their pistols to where Wesker was now standing, dumbfounded by what they just saw.

"How'd he do that?!" One officer yelled.

"He'd hoped that he would get lucky." Wesker said. "But I'm afraid Spencer knew that you weren't going to stop me. You are all going to die tonight."

"Shoot'em now!" The commander said as every weapon aimed at Wesker went off. A lot of good that did them.

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"Locked."

Wesker stood in front of the large doors on the second level. The main hall was littered with the corpses of Spencer's so called security detail. He didn't even have to resort to any of his weapons. This was preferable. He knew he would need them for something much more threatening.

The doors at the top of the staircase were locked, or rather, sealed shut. They were much thicker than the metal cages aboard the Decepticon ship and Wesker wouldn't be able to force them open. He inhaled impatiently.

"He's going to make me explore this damned mansion, isn't he?"

Wesker went down back to the ground level. The two gates on the upper levels were locked and Wesker saw that the doors of the lower level were locked also, one door had a large space where something was clearly meant to be placed.

"Did he really have this mansion built with puzzle locks on all the doors?"

Wesker was frustrated now, but he kept himself reserved. All of this would only serve to make killing the old man all the sweeter. Wesker realized that he was going to have to explore the mansion, which no doubt had a few traps and surprises in store for him. He was ready for anything.

He walked behind the staircase, into a small corridor hidden away, just like the old mansion. Halfway down on either side, there was a lever on one wall and a gate on the other. This was different. Wesker walked up to the gate to try and see what awaited him on the other side. It appeared to be another passage that was also different. In front of the gate was what appeared to be a crank lift, minus the crank.

"Unbelievable."

The man was obsessed. Even the crank systems were carried over from the Arklay Facility. Wesker knew he had to find the crank if he wanted to moved forward, so he turned his attention to the lever on the wall. When he pulled the lever down, he heard the unlocking of several doors.

"Alright, let's get started."

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One crank puzzle, one hacked computer, three passwords, one emblem hidden behind a secret passage opened by a grand piano, one spiked ceiling trap, and one crank hidden in the safe.

"I'm going to enjoy killing him far more than I should."

Wesker was infuriated by all the tricks and obstacles that Spencer had put it place, but he had what he was looking for. With the crank in his possession, he went back down to the gated off passage. It seemed that it required two people to get through, but Spencer hadn't counted on Wesker's speed to get passed the gate before it fell when he let the crank go.

Wesker stood at the head of the passage, knowing that something dark was waiting deeper in the mansion. This was the only path available to him and he braced himself for whatever hid in the darkness.

He took this time to examine his inventory, his Berretta 92FS, a Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver, a Benelli M3 Super 90 slung over his shoulder and hidden beneath his coat, and a handful of Mk 48 Grenade of both fragmentation and incendiary types. Between all of this and his enhanced strength, Wesker believed that he was prepared to make it to the old man, but it was not going to be easy, regardless of his arsenal or his powers.

He went down narrow passage that led to a steel door. Into the darkness he went, determined to survive Spencer's house of madness. If the old man thought that Wesker was going to be lost in this nightmare, he underestimated his old subordinate.

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A small stairway led to what should have been a dead-end, were it not for the missing floor. It appeared that it was meant for some kind of lift that was never installed. Wesker waited before jumping down, trying to listen for the sounds of shuffling movement. There was nothing but silence, so Wesker took a leap, or rather drop of faith.

When he landed, he was quickly assaulted with a foul stench in the air. He knew the smell of death. The question was, was it the death that remained dead? His weapon ready, he proceeded forward.

He walked into a two level area that looked like some sort of abandoned prison cell block crossed with a dungeon from the dark ages. Wesker wondered if Spencer ever had a need for it...or if he was expecting to use it again. He needed to be careful. With all the cells casted in darkness, there were too many blind spots for something to jump out at him.

He walked down the lower level that lead to a hall of cells, seeing corpses locked inside a few of them. Spencer had put his prison to use. He noticed the small torches on the ground. Someone was still here. He came to another cell block, two levels once again. He moved cautiously, keeping his weapon ready, checking every corner of every cell. If he came across a body lying on the ground, he took no chances and crushed its head beneath his boot. Back out into the hall, he saw something move from his peripheral. He turned just quick enough to see it disappear into another area. Wesker couldn't deny that he was a bit unnerved. Whatever it was he saw, it was not small.

Wesker came to another stairway next to a locked cell. He walked over to ascend the stairs, but jumped back when a crimson head ran up to the cell door and attempted to grab him. Wesker was able to move out of its way without harm and the creature continued to snarl and reach out to grab him.

"Hm...These were always amusing."

The creature was no threat to him, even if it was set free. Wesker, however, still felt the need to end its life. Quickly grabbing both its arms by the wrists, Wesker pulled them back hard enough to rip them off of its body. With its claws removed, he reached in and grabbed it by the collar and pulling it against the bars. Its face began pulling through, tearing the sides of it off and its neck pulled against the horizontal bar. With one forceful tug, Wesker pulled its torso through the bars, ripping its head and shoulders off inside the cell. Even though it wasn't a threat to him, he didn't want it getting lose and having to deal with it later.

Wesker left the body and walked up the stairway. Having made an easy kill, he almost let his guard down. He turned the corner that led to the upper level.

Suddenly, a large, rusted, anchor came down upon him. Wesker barely managed to back out of the way and let it slam into the wall in front of it. That was far too close than he wished it had been. The anchor was dislodged and Wesker saw the thing that was carrying it.

Its body was decayed, same as a zombie, but it was bigger than any he had seen. It displayed a growth of deformity, very much like a G-Mutation. Its back was enlarged so grotesquely that it required a harness to hold it in place. Wesker could barely see its face beneath the rag on its head, just enough to know that it no longer resembled anything like a face. The gigantic anchor it was wielding was telling enough of its monstrous strength.

With its attention set on Wesker, it took another swing with its anchor. Wesker moved out its range again, allowing it to lodge anchor into the wall beside him. Even with its strength, it moved slow and sluggishly. Wesker had the advantage. Choosing to move out of the trappings of the stairway, Wesker used his speed to get past it and onto the second level with more room to fight back. The B.O.W. came back up the stairs and Wesker started shooting it with his handgun. The bullets did nothing to affect him and he moved closer. Wesker holstered his weapon and drew his revolver. He fired a round into the B.O.W. The .50 caliber round had stunned it for a second, but it didn't stop it. He took another shot, this time for the head. It didn't kill it, but it managed to bring it down on a knee. Wesker rushed forward and delivered a swift uppercut into what was supposed to be its face, knocking it backwards. He brought his arm back to run it through the B.O.W., but it reached out and grabbed Wesker by the throat. It stood up, lifting Wesker off the ground, and readied to run its anchor through him. Taking his revolver again, Wesker fired another round into the growth of its back. The shot caused it to have a violent spasm, but also spew an acidic substance from the growth that got Wesker. It burned his skin painfully and then he was thrown back down the first level of the block while the creature continued to thrash violently.

Wesker recovered and saw that it was regaining its composure. Safely distanced from it, Wesker reached for one of his frag grenades and tossed it up on the second level, just underneath the B.O.W. He rushed back up the stairway, hearing the explosion above him. He reached the second floor and saw that the creature was still stunned from the explosion. Hunched over with its back turned, Wesker saw that the growth of his back also hid a large yellow eye. It _was_ a G-Mutation, or at least based upon the G-Virus properties. With his revolver once more, Wesker shot the large eye, causing the growth to burst and spew its acidic substance everywhere. Wesker was far enough to avoid being caught by it again. The creature let out the same inhuman noise it had been making since it first saw Wesker and dropped dead to the floor.

Wesker was not expecting, nor was he prepared for a fight like that. He found himself lucky that he managed survive the encounter. Feeling the sting from his wounds, Wesker applied an herbal mix of red and green to alleviate the pain of his burns. His enhancement granted him slight immunity from infection through physical contact and injuries and also allowed gradual regeneration from minor wounds such as this. It was a far cry from the healing properties granted to the Birkin girl. Wesker hoped that Jackson would open the door to such abilities. Another reason to finish the mission, he thought.

Replacing the four shells of his revolver. Wesker continued on. He descended back down another set of stairs into another cell block. This one appeared to be a single level. The main hall lead nowhere, but the walls of the cells were knocked down and the far cells wall was dug open into a tunnel. Wesker followed the dirt passage, but came to another dead end. He wondered what the purpose was as he touched the wall to try and feel its structural integrity. A hand came tearing through the wall and almost grabbed Wesker. Another of the same type of B.O.W. from before broke the wall down and swung its anchor blindly at nothing.

Wesker knew where its weak point was now, but the corridor was too narrow to get behind it. With his shotgun, Wesker fired three shells into its body, attempting at the head with the buckshot. That was enough to stun it and bring it to its knees just like the revolver. Wesker used its weakened moment to attack it head on, using his strength to keep it from recovering and drive it back. From the wall it tore down, Wesker pushed it back with into a more open corridor. Wesker struck it back against the wall and moved off to the side of it, far enough to avoid its acids. He caught sight of the eye on its back and used his revolver to shoot it dead. Now Wesker knew that there were more of these things lurking around.

Wesker pressed forward, turning a curve and going up a few steps that lead to another area. It was mostly wooden platforms with an upper area, but Wesker saw a metal door that lead to next section to the side of him. Unfortunately, he was not done here just yet.

From one of the upper platforms, another B.O.W. dropped down. Wesker was no longer unnerved by these things. By now, he just found them annoying. Choosing to end this quickly, Wesker threw an incendiary grenade, engulfing it in flames. It flailed around a bit before dropping to its knees as they do when weakened. Wesker jumped over it, onto the platform above it. There was a half broken ladder hanging from the edge, the broken part just sharp enough. Not wanting to waste anymore ammo, Wesker ripped off the ladder and split the long bars off from the short steps. With one it each hand, he threw them down on the B.O.W. One went through its body, pinning it to the ground, the other went through its back, coming out its eye as Wesker hoped it would. The creature went limp and fell lifeless. Wesker hopped down and went metal door he saw earlier. It was locked, but he just kicked it open.

A small set of steps led to another drop into the lower parts of the mansion and Wesker found himself in a large area built over water. A wooden pathway lead to what looked like the gates of a castle, complete with drawbridge. Wesker went over the bridge and saw the pillar that led up to another area, hopefully the next section. He climbed up the latter, only to see a fourth B.O.W. waiting for him.

"Honestly." He said in frustration.

Wesker jumped back down, intending to go back where he came and ambush the B.O.W. But when he left the castle entrance, another B.O.W. swung at him with its anchor. Now he had two to deal with. Wesker ducked under its lodged anchor and ran back the way he came.

"Glad to see that these creatures aren't territorial. Of course not, that would be too easy."

Wesker ended up under the drop he came down from and the two B.O.W.s were coming for him, one behind the other. Wesker already had an idea in mind. Had he not been enhanced, he would be trapped. He jumped back up on the ledge that led the metal door and waited for them appear beneath him. He was certain that their deformities left them unable to make the jump as he did.

He pulled the pin on another frag grenade and drop it between them. The explosion stunned them both, forcing them apart. Wesker jumped down in between then and began striking at the one closer to the open area. Not allowing to recover, same as the last, he manage to push it back past the draw bridge. He looked behind him and saw the other B.O.W. following them, prepared to drop its anchor. Wesker dove onto the drawbridge just in time to avoid attack. The creature he was attacking was not so lucky. It was crushed beneath the weight of the anchor, eyeball weakness and all. Wesker backed into the pillar, his revolver drawn. Before the creature could attack, Wesker pulled himself up the ladder and sprang forward over the B.O.W., landing behind it where he had a clear shot at its eye.

"Enough of this."

One .50 caliber bullet and it was dead. By now, Wesker had already killed five of these things. He wondered if Spencer believed him to already be dead. Was he in for a surprise. Going back up the pillar, Wesker saw that the entrance was gated off just as it was from the mansion lobby, only it was locked by way of another puzzle involving a circular crest of some kind. After all that, Spencer had another puzzle lock in place.

"You're pushing it, old man."

Wesker explored the area and found two halves of the crest, one silver and one gold. He set them in place and the gate opened up. He stepped through and found himself on a wooden pathway that lead to another stairway. He took three steps and the wooden floor gave out underneath him. It had been built over a large hole, a trap.

'You are a dead man, Spencer.' Was his last thought before he hit the bottom.

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Wesker recovered from the fall, having landing in waist high water. He regained his composure, taking in his surroundings. It appeared to be the lowest level of the mansion, where most of the water came through before reaching the sewers. Wesker felt that this may as well been a sewers, considering the amount of junk and unfinished structures that were left to fall into ruins. Wesker checked himself and made sure he had all his gear. His guns were accounted for, but he had lost all but one incendiary grenade. That was good enough for Wesker, so he left to find his way out.

The area really did feel like an elaborate sewer, with barred off passages and such. It also felt like a maze. He had trouble finding his way around. Wesker explored for a bit longer until he saw a platform that reached out of the water. He climbed up and hoisted another passage that lead to a narrow hall area.

He took some time to look around, hoping it lead to the exit of this damned place. He saw an enlarged spider scurry from small storage area and quickly stepped on the disgusting thing. Wesker hated spiders, all insects really. He wasn't afraid of them, but they were pests.

He examined the little space where it came from and saw a large chest sitting against the wall. He opened it up and saw...a blue crank.

"This again?"

By now, Wesker had thought up of at least a hundred ways he was going to kill Spencer for putting him through all this. The attempted assassination from earlier was the lesser of his offenses.

Just then, he heard something sloshing through the water below him. He figured it for another anchor wielding B.O.W. just like the last five he encountered. He looked through the barred opening to see where it was and if it knew he was there. But it wasn't one those creatures, it was one he had seen before, the same one he has encountered in the old mansion.

"It can't be."

Her body was hunched over, weighed down by her deformities. Her oversized arms were shackled together. Without her hospital gown, Wesker could see the eye growth of her back clearly, the typical sign of the G-Virus. What used to be her face was still hidden beneath masks made from the faces of her many "mothers." Through a small hole, Wesker could see one of her eyes. This was Lisa Trevor. It seemed that even the Arklay Facility's destruction wasn't enough to destroy her.

"This is a problem." He said to himself.

And she truly was. Lisa Trevor was the catalyst to many of Umbrella's breakthroughs, but she was also one of their most dangerous failures. After all the experiments conducted on her, her body became virtually indestructible. When she was deemed too uncontrollable for viable use, she withstood every attempt to destroy her. Even a shell from a tank did nothing more than throw her against a wall. Perhaps if she was left in Raccoon City, the nuclear strike would have been enough to destroy her. Spencer must've had her salvaged before the outbreak had occurred.

Wesker knew he had to be careful. Despite her slow movement, Lisa Trevor was vicious as she was hideous. And with what little intelligence she still possessed, he was sure that she recognized him...and hated him. If he was going to find his way out, he was going to have to deal with her first.

He armed his revolver. Only seven bullets remained. His shotgun still had plenty of shells, but he knew that none of his weapons or even his strength was enough to kill Lisa, only stall her while he searched for an exit.

He listened to her aimlessly wander around the maze, groaning with her still human-like voice. She was a necessary sacrifice for Umbrella's progress, but even Wesker felt she needed to be put out of her misery. His best bet was to try and avoid her. Unfortunately, she stopped moving somewhere where he couldn't see her and thus, couldn't locate her. Wesker took his chances and left the safety of his hiding space.

He cautiously moved as quiet as he could, hoping not to run into her. All it took was one wrong corner...and there she was.

Once she saw Wesker, several tentacles protruded from her body, a sign of aggression. She snarled animalistically and slammed her bound hands on Wesker. He was knocked down and she jumped on top of him. He could see her face, if you could call it that, more clearly now. She was far from the beautiful teenaged girl she used to be.

"mo...ther..." she groaned.

"Ever the mama's girl."

Wesker was able to push her off and get some distance, but Lisa was able to recover quickly and leap that distance. Wesker moved out of the way and fired his gun empty into Lisa. It knocked her back a step with each round, giving him time to load his last bullet. She started walking forward again and Wesker backed away. He armed his shotgun and began pumping rounds into her. It did no good. Each round stopped her movement for a single second, getting to her snarl once again, but it didn't bring her down. Wesker's shotgun went empty. He decided not to waste time loading it or waste ammo using it along with his handgun.

Wesker rushed Lisa, striking her with all of his strength. He knew he had no chance of killing her, but maybe he could at least subdue her for the time being. Every strike was enough to push her back, but then _she_ started pushing back. Her tentacles snapped at Wesker, stopping him for a second. Two wrapped around his fist, allowing her to smack her shackled hands into his stomach. With good force, she swung her arms upward, hitting Wesker in the face. He landed on his back again and Lisa continued to assault him. Like an angry primate, she began pummeling Wesker's body while he still lied in the water. Even with his endurance, her strength was able to hurt him.

Wesker struck her in the stomach, stopping her from beating him further, and kicked her away from him. Getting to his feet, he considered where he was going to run to. He thought for too long because Lisa knocked him back into a mechanism of some kind. He had hurt his back against it and before he could recover, Lisa's shackles landed squarely on his head, knocking him face down. He glassed flew off before he hit water. Before she could began pummeling him again, Wesker turned over and fired his remaining revolver shell into her chest. This gave him time to sprint away from her with blinding speed.

Wesker felt the back of his head and saw blood on his leather glove. Fighting her was not an option, but he couldn't keep running past her, hoping to avoid a fight as he looked for a way to escape this labyrinth. Wesker caught sight of the mechanism he landed against behind Lisa. It had a shape of a blue star with a square slot just like the...

"The crank."

Lisa turned her attention back to Wesker, but he was already on the move. He made his way back to the chest, reloading his shotgun as he did, and retrieved the blue crank. He went back out into the maze, meeting with Lisa head on as soon as he did. She swung at him again, but he moved out of the way. He swung the crank down on her head, knocking her onto her knees. Wesker ran back to the crank, hoping it opened a passage out of this place. As he turned the crank, he saw that another raised platform began lifting out of the water, revealing spikes underneath it. It wasn't an escape, but it gave him an idea.

Lisa was back on Wesker's trail, but was prepared to lead her underneath the spike trap. Unfortunately, the platform dropped the moment he let go of the crank.

"Dammit!"

He needed to hold to crank in place, which meant he wouldn't be able to lead her under the trap. She was closing the distance and Wesker thought of another idea. Speeding towards her, Wesker began throwing punches at her to drive her away from the trap. Again, she attempted to grab him with her tentacles, but he quickly avoided them. Taking his shotgun, he unloaded whatever he had left. It was empty again, so he began hitting her with him to push her further back. Once he was satisfied with the distance, he made his way back to the crank.

Undoing the sling from the stock end, he tied it to the bars of the wall it rested against. He began turning the crank, lifting the platform all the way up. Holding it up with one hand, he pulled the shotgun to the crank handle. He put the barrel to the handle and bent it, hooking it onto the crank and holding it in place. Lisa was coming back and Wesker was ready to lead her into the trap. He stepped forward into the center of the area.

"You want to kill me? Well, here I am."

She snarled again and started moving towards Wesker. He began stepping back to the trap.

"What's the matter? Don't you want revenge for your mother, for all the fakes we tried to fool you with?"

"Mo...ther..."

"I'm the one who killed her, Lisa. I'm the reason you are what you are now. Come, take my life. End the endless torture by my hands."

She began moving faster as Wesker went under the platform. He stayed where he was and waited for her to be right in front of him.

"Mo...ther..."

Wesker smirked triumphantly and quickly sped back out to the crank. With one kick, he broke his shotgun loose and let the trap fall. Lisa managed one more snarl before being trapped under the spiked platform. Wesker took a moment to examine his victory. The top of the platform was now partially broken through from where it landed on Lisa. Upon closer inspection, Wesker could still her moving against the stone.

"She's still alive under there. Unbelievable."

Wesker wondered if the trap would be able to hold her permanently or if she would eventually dig her way out. He didn't wish to wait long enough to find out, so he kept searching for an exit.

Wesker searched the area for a little while longer, finding another gate with another emblem locking mechanism. His patience had run out hours ago. He quickly searched the maze and found the three shards of the emblem. He inserted them into the slot and opened the gate, leading to a ladder out of the maze. He was done here and soon enough, with Oswell Spencer.

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The ladder led back outside, to a rather large staircase. As he ascended the steps, he heard the sounds of radios and movement. More bodyguards, which meant that Spencer was nearby. Wesker moved quietly until he got sight of a one. He would make short work of all of them. Sounds of gunfire and screaming echoed through the seclusion that hid the mansion. None of them stood a chance against Wesker.

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The large wooden doors flew open and Wesker stepped through, wearing a pair of shades he had taken from one of the bodyguards. The room was spacious, two levels high and lined with bookshelves. At the far end of the room were a set of windows that gave an incredible view of the outside. And that's where he was, decrepit and dying, resting in his wheelchair built with a machine that connected to his head and wrist, a pitiful attempt to cling to life. This was the father of The Umbrella Corporation. This was Oswell E. Spencer.

Wesker approached the old man, the tired old fool. With the storm raging outside, the shadows casting over the room, Wesker appeared more like the grim reaper than the head of Umbrella's Research Division. Spencer looked up at Wesker, utter bewilderment that he was even standing there.

"You should be dead...How...how could you have made it this far?" He asked weakly.

Wesker smiled and answered by removing his glasses. Spencer saw that his eyes were not human, that he had changed.

"What have you done, Wesker?"

"What I have done, _old man_ , is something that you or anyone else in Umbrella had to stomach to do. I took a leap of faith and landed upon a higher stage than where you stand now."

Spencer was no doubt confused.

"I'll elaborate."

Wesker walked over to the window, enjoying the view in front of him.

"Before the creation of the T-Virus, there was a prototype. It was considered a failure, killing those who were injected with it, but I decided to roll the dice before my confrontation with the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members. When the T-002 Tyrant ran me through with its claw, S.T.A.R.S. left me for dead. But I didn't die. I was reborn….stronger, smarter, faster than any human could ever hope become by conventional means. My injuries were healed and I became something more. And now, I have ascended beyond the limits of man.

Wesker turned back to Spencer.

"That's how I survived your little assassination attempt, how I got past your armed guards and B.O.W.s. Don't you see, Spencer? I _am_ the next stage, the new human being."

Spencer shut his eyes as Wesker revealed to him the truth.

"I see. So...while I searched for the key to my new world...one was already found….standing so close to me that I could have reached out and taken it."

"Yes…Don't feel bad, old man. In your old age, you began to lack vision. That's why I kept my ascension from you."

"If you hold the key...then why do you want Jackson Darby?"

Wesker turned back to the view.

"I am the next stage, but unfortunately, not the final stage. I've tried to push my DNA even further, increase my strength and intelligence. There is only so much I can do. But Jackson Darby….he is the true answer. His blood possesses an adaptability that can bond human DNA with the viruses successfully, achieving enhancement without mutation. He is the key we both seek. He is the philosopher's stone."

"And that is why...you kept him from me."

Wesker put his glasses back on.

"You've had your time, Spencer. After all these years, you have yet to achieve anything that could bring about the rebirth of this world. So much time and effort...and for what, degeneration and deformity. It's time to move aside and let another continue your work."

Spencer began coughing harshly.

"So that's it then….After all these years….it is you who closes my curtain…You, who showed such promise…..You are a snake…..I never should've trusted you.

"In doing so...and seeing only now what a mistake that was, you've proven that you were never worthy to create the new world, something I've known since Raccoon City."

Spencer began another coughing fit.

"All that work...all those years...I was to become a God 'kof''kof''kof' creating a new world with an advanced race of human beings. However, all was lost with Raccoon City. Despite that setback, the boy's survival holds great significance."

Spencer continued to cough on his last breaths as he attempted to get out of his chair on his own.

"Now my candle...burns dimly." He said as he struggled to stay on his feet. "Ironic, isn't it, for one who has a right to be a God..."

He turned around to see Wesker standing in front of him.

"To face his own mortality."

Wesker stared at this pathetic old man.

"The right to be a God."

A smile formed on his face. Wesker drove his hand straight through Spencer's chest and out of his back. Thunder cracked outside of the mansion, filling the room with light for moments at a time. Spencer struggled to cling to life even after Wesker had spilled his blood.

"That right is now mine."

Wesker violently removed his arm and let Spencer's blood flow out of him, taking his life with it. He fell to the floor as dead as the many who had fallen because of his delusions of godhood.

"The right to be a God, you? Arrogant, even until the end. Only one truly capable of even being a God...deserves that right."

Wesker walked past Spencer's corpse, dropping his last grenade by the body. As he left the room, the grenade exploded and covered Spencer in fire. The fire began spreading and would eventually swallow the whole mansion. Wesker was glad to see it destroyed. It, like Spencer, was a relic of the past.

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Wesker watched as the mansion burned. It was done. Spencer was gone. Now all that was left to do was deal with Simmons and his informant. After that, nothing would stop him from getting Jackson Darby. Umbrella was now his and he answered to no one.

"The right." He said to himself before he left for his aircraft. "With Jackson Darby, I have that right."

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 **Well, this is the last of my reserves for Old Nightmare. After this, I'm going back on hiatus. Unfortunately, I cannot afford internet and will not be able to make updates for the foreseeable future. I don't know how long it will take, but it might be a while.**

 **I'm bullshitting you all. I ain't goin' nowhere. This is my last from the hiatus though, but I'm already working on the next chapter. Make yourselves comfortable. We got a lot to cover this time around.**

 **This whole chapter was from Wesker's POV. I know you all want to get back to Jack and Leon and the Autobots, but I felt this needed to be done before going forward.**

 **Now, I omitted a lot of stuff from Wesker's cannon, such as the Progenitor Virus, Wesker's backstory involving Project W, and of course, the confrontation involving him against Jill and Chris. So, no blonde Jill in a leather battle suit guys, sorry. The reason I wrote out Wesker's history because I felt it would get in the way of Umbrella's interest in Jack. If Wesker was the sole survivor of Spencer's children, he would've been more valuable to him than Jackson which would undermine the whole story I've written. Some of Wesker and Spencer's dialogue was taken directly from Resident Evil 5, with a few changes.**

 **So pretty much, this whole chapter was Lost in Nightmares with Wesker. I don't think Wesker would really enjoy the puzzles and complicated mechanism from the game. I hope you don't mind that I sort of went over most of them. It's fun to play them, but not fun to write. I doubt it'd be fun to read either. I also decided to include Lisa Trevor in the water maze instead of another Guardian of Insanity or Blob or whatever the guys with the anchors are called. Like I said, she was my favorite monster in the series.**

 **Next chapter, we go back to Team Prime and The B.S.A.A. We also see what Wesker's next move is gonna be. Like I said, I'm working on the next chapter but I don't know when I'll have it up. I'll try to keep my updates to at least one a week, alternating between Old Nightmare and A Shard of Glass. Speaking of which, my last stock chapter on that will go up Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed the read. Laters.**


	28. Chapter 28

Nashua, New Hampshire

A sharp dressed man and his assistant were being escorted out of the building of the corporate headquarters of a major American company. The CEO of said company walked beside them, looking eternally grateful to the man with the light gray suit. This was Derek Clifford Simmons, head of the most powerful families in North America.

"I can't thank you enough, Mr. Simmons. You've just saved my entire company and over a million jobs." The CEO said.

"My boy, I'm only doing what any real American would do. Now, you keep in contact with me. If any more of those suits from Morrison Consolidated come at you again, you call me. We're in business now and I won't let them take your family's company from you."

They came to Simmons' limo and his assistant opened the door for him.

"I will be in touch to finalize the deal. You can rest easy, Mr. Brice. Your company's not going anywhere."

The two shook on their alliance and Simmons entered his vehicle. As it pulled away, his assistant began speaking.

"He understands that he works for you now?"

"Of course, he does. They all know."

"You were in the news again. The Republicans are criticizing you for your nonpartisan position."

Simmons was fiddling with his gold thumb ring, which bore the crest of his family.

"This again? What are they saying now, Partlow?"

"Same as the Democrats. They feel you need to pick a side instead of 'playing the middle ground', as they put it."

Simmons always hated these schoolyard antics.

"I'm not playing the middle ground, I'm actually getting things done. I've been busy keeping this economy from falling back under and saving billions of jobs while they have their political gang war. They can shame each other on national television well enough without me. The grownups have to work, however."

"And what of this upcoming election? You think either candidate will give us any trouble?"

Simmons seem unconcerned with the prospect.

"They'll fall in line. They always fall in line. If not, there are always more agreeable replacements."

"And what about Bedford? How come we allowed him to resist us during his two terms?"

Simmons clenched his fist.

"Bedford may have been uncooperative, but he stayed out of our way. He's a cuddly house cat, no threat to us. Besides, his term is almost over. Once he's out of the White House, its back to business as usual."

"I still feel he should've been neutralized."

"He had his uses, Partlow. However, with him knowing what he knows, and his unwillingness to work with us and Umbrella, we will have to deal with him once he steps down. He should've just played his position like everyone else. Idealist, they are their own worst enemy."

The limo came to a stop and Simmons saw that they were taken somewhere fairly isolated.

"What the hell is my driver doing? Why aren't we at the hangar?"

"I'll go see." Partlow said as he exited the vehicle.

Simmons was already annoyed, but decided to relax a bit by pouring himself a drink from the bar in his limo. The man did love a good scotch. Before he could enjoy his drink, a knock was heard from his window.

"I am going to fire this man, then have him disappear."

Simmons exited the vehicle, not at all happy.

"I hope you've got good references, friend, because I will have you..."

Simmons was stopped when he saw that the driver wasn't there, but Partlow was. He was on the ground with his neck broken.

"Partlow?"

"I truly hope he wasn't anything special, as far as assistants go."

Simmons turned around to see Wesker standing there. He quickly backed away from the car, obviously feeling threatened.

"I know how difficult it is to find a dependable assistant."

"Wesker...You...I thought you were-"

"Dead?"

"You stay right there. If you touch me, you'll be the most wanted man in America."

"You vastly overestimate your worth."

"I _know_ my worth, Wesker, to this country and to you. The old man knows my worth well...and if you put one hand on me, you won't be able to hide from him or Umbrella."

Wesker responded by speed running to Wesker and then lifting him up off the ground by the throat.

"You actually believed that he answered to you, that the kill order he sent out was by your command. Your arrogance plays second only to his."

"You kill me...and...Umbrella dies." Simmons choked out.

Wesker smirked up at the struggling Simmons and then threw him back into his car door. He was left thrown off from the impact but recovered just in time to see Wesker drive his hand through the car right next to his head.

"What the hell are you?!"

"Shut up, Simmons, and listen well. You are _not_ in charge, you never were. Your money and your connections were useful to Umbrella. But never forget that when we were exposed, _you_ abandoned us. You tucked your tail between your legs and ran while we were publicly crucified by the government that you supposedly controlled. But we didn't die, did we? We survived without your family's wealth for two years, selling our weapons on the black market and keeping our research funded. You only came back when you thought it'd be safe to work with us again. Spencer never trusted you after that. Before your return, he had plans to have you assassinated. Did you know that?"

Wesker removed his hand from the car door, having demonstrated his strength.

"So if you have any misconceptions that you are indispensable, erase them. You can disappear just as quickly as any of our other pawns in this broken society."

Simmons was clearly unnerved by the threat, but he still had one card to play.

"If that's true, then you're even more disposable than I am. Spencer still wants you dead for trying to hide Jackson Darby from him. Umbrella will come after you."

Wesker's smirk remained where it was.

"The old man is dead. Umbrella is mine."

Wesker kneeled down to be at eye level with Simmons.

"And you..."

Wesker took painful hold of one of Simmons' ears, gripping it hard enough to almost pull it off.

"Work for me now. You can have all your friends in the military send out their best operatives and they will be sent back as corpses. If they're lucky, they'll be corpses that aren't still moving."

Wesker let go of Simmons.

"I can get to you far easier than you can get to me and no amount of old money will be able to protect you, Simmons. Wealth is not power, it's long past time that you and your kind realized that."

Wesker stood up, having made his power over Simmons clear.

"What did you do to yourself, Wesker?"

"That does not concern you. From here on out, you do as I say. Is that in any way unclear?"

Wesker looked back at Simmons, who had clearly lost all sense of power with this scenario.

"Is that clear, Simmons?" Wesker repeated more harshly.

"Y-yes."

"Say it."

"I work for you."

"Damn right, you do. Forget that and I will purge your whole bloodline."

"Yes, Wesker."

"Good dog. Now, on to the matter at hand."

Simmons stood up and collected himself.

"I need to find Jackson Darby, but he's in hiding. The B.S.A.A. are protecting him."

"My people can track any of them down."

"If that were true then they wouldn't be a problem, would they? You won't find the boy through them...The key to finding him lies in Jasper."

"The town you destroyed?"

Wesker didn't even bother correcting him.

"I stumbled upon a Government secret while I searched for the boy there, one I'm sure you are not aware of. No doubt, an agent was put in place as a handler to this secret and is somewhere in the White House. Find out who was assigned in Jasper, Nevada then inform me of who he is."

"Why? What does any of this have to do with Jackson Darby?"

"Never mind you, why! Why is not in your repertoire any more, Simmons. Find this agent. I will contact you in three days."

Wesker began walking away, leaving Simmons alone.

"Cross me, Simmons, and it's your family who suffers."

Wesker left Simmons by himself with the threat looming over his head. The seemingly powerful individual nervously opened his car door to pour himself another drink, the first having fell over during the scuffle. He drank it slowly to calm his nerves. Once he was able to stop himself from shaking, everything began to sink in.

"Oh, God." He said to no one.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The B.S.A.A. black site personnel stood at the landing pad, waiting for the government aircraft to touch down. Many of them were uncertain about allowing government personnel onto their base, not knowing if they could be trusted. The aircraft landed and began unloading its passengers.

Agent William Fowler stepped out first, followed by Leon Scott Kennedy, then Helena Harper. Fowler was approached by Clive O'Brian, who was less guarded than his men. Optimus had assured him that Fowler was a man to be trusted and Chris had personally vouched for Kennedy. Harper was the only one he didn't know about, but he rolled the dice nonetheless.

"Director O'Brian, I appreciate you allowing us to be here. I want you to know that we've come with the best of intentions." Fowler greeted.

"You evacuated the town of Jasper and prevented another outbreak. Between that and Optimus Prime's word, I'm willing to trust you, Agent Fowler."

Leon stepped forward, interested to know more about this Optimus Prime he's heard so much about.

"You must be Leon Kennedy. You're a bit of a legend in these parts." O'Brian said.

"I can promise that whatever you've heard is an exaggeration." He replied.

"So you didn't take down a giant B.O.W. with help from a stray dog?" O'Brian asked.

Leon often wondered how ridiculous the whole Spain mission looked like on paper. There was a reason he'd left the cockney merchant he kept running into out of his report. Thankfully, Harper's approach managed to change the subject.

"Director O'Brian, this is my partner, Helena Harper." Leon introduced.

"A pleasure, Director." She followed.

"Agent Harper, welcome. Follow me, I'm sure you're eager to see the big guy."

Kennedy had no idea what to expect of the being from another world named Optimus Prime. All he knew was that he and his crew were autonomous, robotic, life forms. Even with all the strange and disturbing things he'd seen in his time, he couldn't picture what these beings would look like. His world was about to change, that much he knew. He just hoped that it was for the better.

The three of them followed O'Brian into a hangar that was meant to house larger aircrafts. Leon wondered why these beings needed so much room. When he and the others stepped in and saw the Autobots for the first time, all of his questions were answered.

Leon looked up, awestruck. Helena did the same. Both O'Brian and Fowler were smirking to each other. They were huge, bigger than any B.O.W. than either of them had encountered. Leon wasn't completely sure, but he was almost positive that the "El Gigantes" he dealt with in Spain were smaller than all but one of these robotic giants.

"Leon."

Said agent was able to pick his jaw up off the floor to be greeted by Chris Redfield. The two of them had met more than once and had great respect for each other.

"I had a feeling that Fowler would bring you in. Not what you were expecting, was it?"

"Chris, you're a part of this?"

"Looks like we both are now. And who's your comrade?"

Helena was able to break her focus on the Autobots to greet Chris.

"Helena Harper, D.S.O., Secret Service." She said as she firmly shook Chris' hand.

"Glad to have you. If you're good enough to keep up with _this_ super-agent, you must be one hell of an agent yourself. That's the kind of skill we're gonna need if we're gonna put an end to Umbrella."

"That's why we're here, Agent Redfield." She responded.

Chris seemed impress that Helena knew who he was. She did her homework, always a good sign.

"Well, I'm sure I'm not the one you're here to see. Let me introduce you to the Autobots."

Each of the Autobots stepped forward, safe for Optimus and Arcee, who weren't there. They were occupied with two very at risk humans elsewhere on site. Chris took to naming off the Autobots himself.

"The white and orange one is named Ratchet, he's the medic and chief scientist to the Autobots."

"Greetings." Ratchet followed.

"This jolly green giant is Bulkhead. He's what's known as a Wrecker, hard hitting warrior class and took down a mutated Tyrant."

"Wasn't easy, let me tell ya'" He responded.

"The one with the green and white colors is known as Wheeljack. Another member of the Wreckers, demolitions and explosives expert, weapons genius, swordsman, and all around badass."

"'Sup."

"Wu-Tang here is named Bumblebee, kid brother of the Autobots."

Again, Bumblebee responded to these nicknames Chris liked to give him with beeps of confusion.

"He can't speak, unfortunately. During the war on Cybertron, he took one for the company and lost his pipes. Don't let the fact that he's young fool you. He's a veteran and all heart. Way too proven to be scout, if you ask me."

Chris had great respect for Bumblebee since he was the one who rescued Jack. Bumblebee greeted the two newcomers kindly. While it was not understood in words, the expression he wore was enough. Leon, to his credit, remained composed enough to form a response.

"An honor to meet you all. I...never thought in a hundred years that I would actually make contact with aliens like yourself. Thank you...for lending us your help to stop Umbrella."

Leon looked over to Helena, who was still stuck in a state of disbelief.

"Helena...you still with us?"

"Just trying not to be a fangirl, Leon."

Leon found himself smirking, knowing full well that she grew up on giant robot animes. Even now, her apartment living room had a poster of some show called "Blue Gender" on the wall. This was a dream come true for her, he knew.

"Two of them aren't here right now, Arcee, the second in command and Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. The both of them are keeping an eye on Jackson and June Darby." Chris added.

Leon and Helena were snapped out of their amazement at the mention of Jackson Darby. Leon wanted to meet this kid, to know what Umbrella wanted from him.

"Where is this Jackson Darby? I want to talk to him, ask him a few questions." Leon asked.

Everyone, even the Autobots, changed their expressions once Leon asked that. He wasn't sure if it was because of what happened, or if it was because of distrust. Leon was a government agent, after all. They had every reason not to trust him.

"Jackson isn't well." The Autobot named Ratchet said. "I think it's best if he was left alone for the time being."

"What do you mean, not well?" Helena asked.

"They mean..." Chris started. "He's dealing with some stuff right now."

Leon then remembered that Jasper, Jack's hometown, was destroyed. He also remembered that Jack was originally from Raccoon City, which was also destroyed. The kid had lost his home twice because of Umbrella. On the way, Leon and Helena were already told of their involvement in Jasper. He glanced up and noticed for the first time the young Asian girl sitting on the green Autobot's massive shoulder. He could see that she was still coping with the destruction of Jasper...and whatever else she saw before it was destroyed. Moments like this really put things into perspective for Leon, making him see clearly why Umbrella needed to be brought down.

"What about Optimus Prime? I'd like to meet the Autobot leader who I'm gonna be working so closely with."

Ratchet looked to his fellow Autobots, who all responded back to him by nodding. Clearly, he wanted to make sure they were okay with this.

"Follow me, Agent Kennedy."

Leon and Helena both walked behind Ratchet's massive pedes. As they did, they caught sight of a young Latino boy buried into his computer. Leon saw the bags under his eyes and the sideways glance he gave the two. He hated to see this, to see children caught up in Umbrella's madness. He thought of Sherry Birkin, hoping that she was still safe. He knew Claire would keep her safe from Umbrella, he just hoped the government would too.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 _"May 11th, 2010_  
 _Around 5 o'clock this morning, Scott came in and woke me up suddenly. He was wearing a protective suit that looks like a space suit. He told me to put one on as well. I heard there was an accident in the basement lab. It's no wonder, those researchers never rest, even at night."_

Optimus had spent most of the day in this room, trying to think of a way to track down Umbrella without a ground bridge. Even with his considerable intelligence, the Prime found himself coming up with nothing.

 _"May 12th, 2010_  
 _I've been wearing this annoying space suit since yesterday, my skin grows musty and feels very itchy. By way of revenge, I didn't feed those dogs today. Now I feel better."_

This was frustrating as could be to the Prime...and equally discouraging. He was the leader of the Autobots. They were looking to him to know what to do next. But he just didn't _know_ what to do? He was a Prime, but he felt a powerless as he did when he was still Orion Pax.

 _"May 13th, 2010_  
 _I went to the medical room because my back is all swollen and feels itchy. They put a big bandage on my back and the doctor told me I did not need to wear the space suit any more. I guess I can sleep well tonight."_

If he couldn't think of the next course of action, he decided to do some research on Umbrella and the monstrosities they create.

 _"May 14th, 2010_  
 _When I woke up this morning, I found another blister on my foot. It was annoying and I ended up dragging my foot as I went to the dog's pen. They have been quiet since morning, which is very unusual. I found that some of them had escaped. I'll be in real trouble if the higher-ups find out."_

The B.S.A.A. had kept valuable intel copied and archived in their database and shared with every site they operated. They allowed Ratchet to upload their intel onto the Autobot database so they can research it on technology fit for their size. What he was reading now was from a diary found by Jill Valentine back in the Arklay Mansion facility, where this nightmare first began. It belonged to an Umbrella researcher.

 _"May 15th, 2010_  
 _Even though I didn't feel well, I decided to go see Nancy. It's my first day off in a long time but I was stopped by the guard on the way out. They say the company has ordered that no one leave the grounds. I can't even make a phone call. What kind of joke is this?"_

Optimus hoped that somewhere in these old files, the key to taking down Umbrella was hidden. But the more he read, the more unnerved he became.

 _"May 16th, 2010_  
 _I heard a researcher who tried to escape from this mansion was shot last night. My entire body feels burning and itchy at night. When I was scratching the swelling on my arms, a lump of rotten flesh dropped off. What the hell is happening to me?"_

Optimus had to pause for a second, realizing what was happening to the author of this diary nicknamed "Keeper" by Agent Valentine.

 _"May 19, 2010_  
 _Fever gone but itchy. Hungry and eat doggy food. Itchy Itchy Scott came. Ugly face so killed him. Tasty."_

Optimus stopped reading his data pad and quickly put it aside. He had no desire to read about the author's further descent into mutation.

"By the All Spark." He whispered to himself.

Umbrella, Wesker, Spencer, Birkin, Ashford, Simmons...monsters, all of them. Even their own workers weren't safe from their madness, as the diary showed Optimus. All of this, coupled with the state that his human companions were in, angered Optimus more than a Prime should be allowed to be. They had to be destroyed, for the sake of all humanity and life in general. But Optimus was still unsure of what to do. How could he track down Umbrella and Wesker, and not leave the humans exposed as he did back at Outpost Omega One. That had become Optimus second greatest regret as a Prime, allowing Jasper to be lost. Losing Cybertron was his first.

As he began to doubt his own leadership, he heard the sounds of someone stirring and groaning.

" _J-Jack...Jack where are you_?" A weak voice mumbled.

Optimus quickly went over to the other side of the room where June was resting. Her injuries left her very weak and in constant need of sleep. Though, Agent Valentine worried that depression played a factor as well, as she still was unable to help Jackson cope with his own trauma.

" _Jackson, please...don't leave me._ "

Optimus couldn't take hearing her cry, or crying for Jackson.

"June, you must wake up. You're having a nightmare." Prime answered softly.

June gasped as she opened her eyes, wet with tears that hadn't fallen yet.

"June."

She looked up at Optimus, still as weak and scared as the day before.

" _Optimus._ "

She let herself cry in front of the Prime, feeling no need to hide her pain. Optimus wanted to take that pain away, so he picked her off of the bed and held her to his spark chamber. She always seemed to calm down whenever he did that. Just as she always did, she pressed herself against his frame, allowing him to feel her tremble.

"It's alright, June. It was only a bad dream."

" _I...I dreamt that he was bitten again...And then he ran away...When I found him...he had...he...he had killed himself...to keep from turning._ "

June became more emotional as she finished her horrible dream. Why nature would be so cruel as to give human minds capable of showing them such things while they slept was beyond him.

"That will not happen, June. Jackson is immune to the T-Virus and therefore incapable of becoming a zombie...And neither I nor Arcee would ever allow him to take such action. We will keep him safe no matter what, even from himself."

June pressed her side closer to Optimus. He began stroking her back with one of his large digits.

" _Help him, Optimus. Please, help him. He needs you now...I can't do anything. I can't..._ "

"I will do everything in my power to help Jackson. I swear to you on my own spark, I will help him."

But Optimus didn't know where to begin. Every time he tried to speak to Jack, the teen shied away from him. He knew it was because he felt ashamed, ashamed of what Umbrella had done to get to him. It hurt Optimus to see Jackson think so little of himself, that he had returned the Key to Vector Sigma, feeling unworthy of it. Optimus wasn't going to give up on him, but he was just as uncertain of what to do about him as he was about Umbrella.

"Optimus."

The Prime looked to the doorway and saw Ratchet standing there.

"We have two representatives of the D.S.O. here. They wanted to meet with you and talk about bringing other agents to the black site."

Optimus looked back at the human he held ever so gently and saw that she had fallen back to sleep.

"Where are they now?" He asked.

"They _were_ behind me, but I sent them back when I saw that you were...needed here."

Optimus appreciated Ratchet's discretion and gently placed June back onto her bed. As best he could with his large servo, he made sure to cover her with her white blanket. He looked at her as she rested, seeing that she wasn't doing so peacefully.

"I'll watch over her, Optimus."

Optimus looked to Ratchet gratefully. He didn't wish to leave June alone.

"Thank you, old friend. However, if she awakens, you must let me know."

"Of course."

Optimus got up to leave and meet with the two D.S.O. agents.

"Optimus."

The Prime looked back to the medic.

"I'm just as angry as you are that Umbrella has done this to them...But if Jack sees you doubting yourself this way, it will crush whatever hopes he's holding on to."

Optimus should've known. No one knew him better than Ratchet.

"If you want Jackson to know that he is worthy of the Key to Vector Sigma, remind him of the faith he has in you by being the Prime he looks up to and of the faith that Prime has in him. He needs that. Do you understand, Orion?"

Ratchet was right. He was always right about these things. How could Optimus help Jackson if he couldn't live up to his own standards? The two humans needed him to be strong for them, as did the others, as did the Autobots. Optimus took one last look at June Darby, vowing to take her fears away and make her feel safe, to make her son feel safe. She once told him that Jack didn't feel safe after escaping Raccoon City until he was reunited with his father. He wanted to give that security back to him...and that's just what he was going to do. He would give Jack that peace of mind that his father had neglected and Wesker had stolen. Optimus would protect him...as if he were his own sparkling.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Leon didn't understand why the Autobot medic, Ratchet, led them back into the main area of the hangar. However, he didn't question it. He figured it had something to do with the loss of their previous base. He hoped that Ada would come through with the information he'd asked her to get. That would bring them so much closer to bringing this corrupt organization to justice. He and Helena then heard the sounds of loud footsteps, much louder than the medic's. A Cybertronian, much bigger than the rest, stepped out from one of the hallways and stood before the two D.S.O. agents. His presence gave off the aura of leadership and his blue and red colors reminded Leon of Superman. This had to be Optimus Prime.

"You must be Optimus, the one Fowler spoke so highly of. My name's Leon Scott Kennedy and this is my partner, Helena Harper. It's an honor to meet you, Sir."

"The honor is mine. Welcome to our temporary base within the B.S.A.A. We thank you for coming here to assist us in our time of need."

Leon remembered what President Bedford said about Optimus being a Prime, something held in the highest regard. From the way he spoke, to the way he carried himself, Leon could only imagine what he had done to earn such a title.

"It is my understanding that the United States President wishes for you to bring members of the Division of Security Operations to this site and form an alliance with us Autobots and the B.S.A.A. Director O'Brian has authorized clearance for your team's arrival. Agent Fowler and Agent Redfield assure me that you can be trusted."

"I've seen Umbrella at work, Sir. I've spent my entire career in law enforcement fighting their experiments and made a new career in hunting them down. We're fighting on the same side of this war, I promise you that."

"And what of your partner, Agent Harper? Can I assume that you trust her as well?"

Leon looked back and saw the usually strong willed Helena shrink for a moment. Understandable, it's not every day that a titan like Optimus Primes questions your loyalty. To her credit, she recovered and stepped forward.

"I don't know what you've heard about me...but I _have_ made some mistakes in the past."

Optimus looked suspicious for a moment.

"But I never lost sight of who the enemy was and what I'm fighting for, even when the enemy tried to play a dirty hand."

Now Optimus looked intrigued. Leon knew what she was going to tell him. She must've really wanted his approval if she was letting them know about her past this early.

"They went after my sister once, after I was facing suspension because of a mistake I made. I made that mistake to protect her, like a big sister is supposed to. They tried to get me to betray the President, but I didn't. Instead, he and Leon helped me to rescue her and keep her safe while we went after the one's Umbrella sent after us. They still help me protect her to this day. I was lucky that I didn't lose her."

She kept her eyes locked onto Optimus unthreatening, yet powerful blue gaze. She was standing her ground, not showing any sign of weakness.

"My job to protect the people and my sister are the only two things I live for. Umbrella threatens both, so I have two reasons to want to end them. That's all I have to convince you."

Optimus wasted no time to respond.

"And that is enough. Agent Kennedy, I will let Director O'Brian know that I approve of you bringing your best to help us. "

"Thank you, Optimus, Sir."

"Just Optimus will be fine."

Kennedy and Harper had gotten the Prime's approval. When he stepped away for the moment, Helena let herself exhale in relief.

"That was brave." Leon joked.

Helena held her hand up to chest level, letting Leon see it shaking.

"Brave, yeah." She said.

"Optimus." The medic called.

"Yes, Ratchet."

"You need to see this."

Optimus walked over to a large console that was clearly built their kind. He looked at something on the monitor that Leon couldn't make out.

"By the All Spark...Are we sure what we are seeing is correct?" Optimus asked.

"You tell me. Alpha Trion trusted _you_ with these artifacts."

Optimus looked on at the screen and saw that the signature was indeed one of the few he remembered back in Iacon. It must have landed on Earth only recently, after all this time. If they had picked up the signal, then the Decepticons most certainly did as well. They could not let it fall into the wrong hands. But more than that, they needed it themselves.

"Agent Redfield."

"Optimus?"

"Please inform Director O'Brian that I require his assistance."

"What do you need, big guy?"

"I am in need of transportation to Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia."

The present Autobots all stood at attention.

"What's goin' on, Optimus?" Bulkhead asked.

"A relic of Iacon has landed on Earth, The Forge of Solus Prime."

"What?" Bulkhead asked. "After all this time, it finally made it here?"

"Yes it has, Bulkhead. And if we wish to create a functioning ground bridge, we must retrieve it before the Decepticons."

"I'll get right on it, Optimus." Chris said before leaving to find O'Brian.

Optimus looked around and saw that one of his teammates was not there.

"Where is Arcee?"

Bulkhead looked hesitant to answer.

"She's uh...she's with Jack."

Optimus looked down in understanding.

"I see."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

In Jack's quarters, Arcee was sitting up against the wall that was opposite of his bed. He was lying down with his back to her, pretending to be asleep. Arcee didn't disturb him, however. He hadn't gotten much sleep at all since escaping from Outpost Omega One. She was hoping that he would fall asleep and maybe get some much needed rest without the plague of nightmares interrupting him. He'd had a particularly serious one earlier that morning that made him storm into his mother's quarters to make sure she was alright. Arcee didn't ask him about the dream he had. She was scared to know what he was thinking.

Optimus' warning the day before was haunting her to no end. She didn't even think about leaving him alone. Even when he went to the showers to bathe himself, she kept close watch over his vitals and listened for any signs of trouble. She didn't want to even consider it, that Jack was capable of doing something like that. But she had read up on the B.S.A.A.'s files and learned that many hardened soldiers having taken their own lives after enduring less than Jack. The thought sent a pain through her spark. She could never look June in the eyes again if she ever let that happen. Thankfully, Jack didn't seem bothered by her constant presence at all. He didn't even acknowledge her, in fact. She wondered if was just him ignoring her...or if he was so lost in his own head that he truly didn't notice her.

A woman came into his quarters. She was holding a tray of food from the cafeteria.

"I brought this from the mess hall. Agent Chambers wanted me to tell you to make sure he eats it. She also wants to see him later for a checkup."

"I'll let him know when he wakes up. Thank you."

The woman left the food on Jack's desk before leaving and Arcee walked up to his bed. Even though she knew he wasn't asleep, she acted as if he was and tried to wake him.

"Jack, c'mon. It's lunchtime."

Jack was slow to respond, or even move.

"Not hungry."

Arcee figured as much. Jack had hardly eaten anything since arriving, not that she could blame him. Still, organics like him needed food the way she needed energon. After two days with only a half meal at best, Arcee could tell that his weight was slowly dropping and that he was getting weaker.

"You have to eat something."

"Maybe later."

"No, Jack." She said harshly as his mother would. "If I have to get Jill to force feed you, I will."

Jack made no attempt to get up. He was like a stubborn child, but Arcee knew that wasn't the case. Even though she should've, she didn't have the spark to go get Jill to make him eat. She tried a different approach instead.

"Jack, if your mother finds out that you're not eating, she's just gonna worry about you. Worrying will only slow down her recovery. She's already depressed enough."

It was a low blow, but Arcee couldn't think of anything else.

"Alright." Jack said as he weakly got up and walked to his desk.

He sat down and pulled the tray of...whatever it was that Jack was given closer to him. He picked at it with his fork, hesitant to take the first bite.

"Yeah...the energon rations we were given back on Cybertron were pretty low grade too, not the best stuff to survive on. Still, gotta' make due, right?"

"That's not it, Arcee."

Arcee looked at Jack as he cut his meat into smaller pieces. He seemed somewhere else as he tried to eat, like his mind was drifting away. Jack managed the first bite and began eating like normal. Arcee was glad for that. Maybe he was getting better. Jack went on as Arcee tried to think of a way to strike up a conversation. She couldn't stand the silence between them and really wanted him Jack to talk to her.

"Ya'know what I'm thinking of right now, Jack?"

Jack didn't answer.

"I'm thinking about our trip to Tokyo. Primus, we had fun that day. I still remember that look on your face when you realized where we were. You were so excited to explore the city...Heh, Remember that crazy guy who was throwing vending machines and light poles? Wouldn't it be great if he was on our side? He probably wouldn't have been afraid of Airachnid if he was there when she attacked us."

Arcee looked over to Jack, seeing no reaction.

"When this is all over, I'm taking you back there. We need to see the rest of the city. We only saw a small part of it last time. I hope we run into that shadowy biker again. If I see her again, I'm gonna smoke her _and_ those motorcycle cops."

Jack kept on eating slowly.

"We should try to find Kyohei too. Remember him, that kid you hit it off with in Ikebukuro? He seemed like a nice kid. I'm sure he'd remember you. I could tell you guys would be good friends."

Arcee looked over and saw that Jack had stopped eating.

"Jack?"

Jack looked like something had just come to him, but it wasn't of comfort. He heartrate was elevating and he seemed to be having some trouble breathing.

"Jack, what's wrong?"

He looked paler all of a sudden and seemed like something was stuck in his throat. Arcee knew what was coming next. Quickly, she moved a trashcan by the entrance over to Jack. It was just in time because he quickly began vomiting what he had just eaten. Arcee comfortingly placed a servo on his back as he continued to heave into the trash can. When he was finished, he was gasping for air, gagging in between breaths.

"You alright, Partner?"

"No..." He said as another gag interrupted him.

"Easy...Guess you really weren't hungry."

This had happened before. The few times Jack tried to eat, he had trouble keeping it down. Most of the time, it ended like this. Jack finally settled himself, but as he pushed the can away from him, she saw that he wasn't looking up.

"Arcee..."

"Jack?"

"Umbrella had a lab under Tokyo."

"They did, but Chris said they pack up and frag off when one of their facilities is compromised."

"But...What if...What if Wesker found out I was there? What if he does to Tokyo what he did to Jasper?"

"That won't happen. It wouldn't do him any good. Besides, there's no way he'd be able to pull that off without the whole world knowing what happened, not after Jasper."

"But...what about Kyohei and his friends? What about that rider? What if Wesker thinks they know me?"

Jack looked up with true fear in his eyes.

"You think he'd go after them?"

"Jack..."

"Arcee, he went after my Dad. He'll do anything to get to me. What if he kidnaps them and infects them like he did..."

Arcee firmly took Jack's shoulder as she knelt in from of him.

"Jack, don't...Don't even let your mind go there."

"But Arcee...I...I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me. Miko's parents are out there too."

Arcee took Jack's other shoulder.

"Jack, stop...Just, stop."

Jack looked down again.

"I can't...I keep thinking about my Dad. You didn't see him, Arcee."

He was beginning to tear up again, something Arcee never wanted to see.

"I don't want that to happen to anybody else...especially someone who has nothing to do with this."

He began to cry again and Arcee couldn't fault him in the slightest. Jack was always so mature and such a leader in his own way. It made it hard to remember that he was still just a kid.

"Jack...I..."

Arcee had no words of comfort. She didn't know what to say. Arcee heard someone approaching and looked to the doorway. Bulkhead appeared, but stopped when he saw the emotional Jack.

"Uh...Is this a bad time?"

"What is it, Bulkhead?" Arcee asked.

"Listen, Optimus has a job for us. One of the Iacon Relics landed on Earth. It's the Forge of Solus."

Arcee stood up and gave Bulkhead her full attention.

"The Forge of Solus?"

"Yeah, Optimus wants to get to it before the 'Cons so he can use it to whip up a ground bridge. We're gonna need one sooner or later."

"Sooner...How are we gonna get there?"

"That's the tricky part. Chris is gonna lead a team and take us there on one of their aircrafts. It's gonna take a while before we get there."

"We'll never get there before Megatron."

"Maybe, but the signal is still strong. He hasn't gone after it yet."

"Then we need to hurry if..."

Arcee stopped when she remembered what Optimus had told her about Jack.

"Actually, 'Cee, Optimus wants you to stay behind." Bulkhead said as he motioned to Jack.

"Is...Is he sure?"

"He insisted."

Jack looked up and Bulkhead pulled back by how terrible he looked.

"Go, Arcee. They need you." Jack said.

"I mean..." Bulkhead began. "We should be able to handle it. Wheeljack'll cover for Arcee. Don't worry about it, Jack."

Bulkhead gave Arcee a concerned look which was returned in kind.

"They'll be fine, Jack. They got along well enough without me before I came to Earth."

Jack didn't look convinced.

"Arcee...You're the Second In Command. Optimus might need you...If Airachnid shows up, he'll definitely need you."

Arcee could tell that this was Jack pushing her away. Maybe he was getting tired of her company, or maybe he felt like she was wasting her time with him, maybe both. But Arcee made the mistake of leaving Jack alone to go on a mission once before...and that's how this whole thing began. Now, even in the safety of the B.S.A.A. base, surrounded by people who would protect him, Arcee was not making that mistake again. This time, _he_ was as much a danger to himself as Wesker or any of his B.O.W.s.

"I'm fine, Arcee. Really, I am."

There was such a desperation in his voice and Arcee was afraid to know why he was so eager to send her off. But it wasn't happening. Optimus might need her, but Jack needed her more. She made June a promise that she would pull him out the hole Wesker had pushed him into. Now that he had made the hole even deeper, it would be a lot harder to reach him. She couldn't risk it, not even with Jill or Chris. They couldn't watch him as closely as she did. She was terrified to leave him alone, to come back to find him buried in that hole. No, losing two partners was enough. If she lost Jack, she'd be the one in a hole she couldn't climb out of...and no one would be able to pull her out.

"Go on, Bulkhead." Arcee said without looking away from Jack. "They're waiting for you."

"Gotcha','Cee."

Bulkhead left the two alone. Jack kept his head down, looking not too happy about Arcee's decision.

"You shouldn't, Arcee, bailing on your team because of me."

Arcee didn't reply, choosing to look at her broken down partner. There was nothing to say, nothing one could do to convince the other of what was the right thing to do. Just as before, the silence continued. With each second that passed with words left unsaid, Arcee felt her partner, her best friend, drifting further and further away from her. Even Airachnid had never managed to hurt her like this, to take someone she loved without having to take his life, to strike him hard enough to make him crack...and then slowly break apart, piece by piece.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Agent Alomar walked up to Optimus and Bumblebee as they discussed the plan in detail.

"Optimus, Sir, Chris and the Director are looking for suitable transport right now, one that'll be big enough for all of you."

"Thank you, Agent Alomar."

"Of course, Sir."

Bulkhead came from the hallway to rejoin the group.

"We headin' out, yet?" He asked.

"We are still waiting for available transportation." Optimus replied.

"Oh, well...The Forge is still there, right?"

Optimus looked over to Ratchet.

"It hasn't moved. The Decepticons don't seem to be interested in it."

"They were also caught in Umbrella's attack. It could be that the incident is holding their attention for the moment. We must use this distraction as an opportunity." Optimus said.

Wheeljack had just finished sharpening one of his swords when he decided to speak up.

"I don't get it, though. What took the Forge so long to land on Earth and why was it fitted with a tracking beacon in the first place? I'm no Iacon clerk, but I remember hearing how Alpha Trion sent out all the artifacts when Cybertron started dying."

"That is correct, Wheeljack. Before sending the rest of the artifacts to Earth, Alpha Trion had created a database that contained the exact coordinates of where they would land, encoding it enough that it would take a million years for even Soundwave to decrypt just one of them."

"A wise choice of action." Ratchet added. "Considering that Megatron had acquired the database when the Decepticons stormed Iacon after the last relic was sent off."

"Hold on." Sheva began as she realized something. "The rest of the artifacts? What happened to the first few?"

Optimus sighed.

"An unfortunate mistake...that _I_ had made."

"Wait, What?" Bulkhead asked.

"As the war began to take its toll on Cybertron and the Decepticons began making their way to Iacon, I was given orders from Alpha Trion to make preparations to send the relics to Earth. I did as I was told and waited to be given further instructions. When the Decepticons launched a savage attack on a city not too far from Iacon, a few of my colleagues had given me false orders that I did not question. I...foolishly assumed that these instructions were passed on to me from Alpha Trion. But they were merely orders given in a state of panic without his approval. So, I sent a handful of the relics to Earth with tracking beacons, each carrying their own signature to prioritize their retrieval, for the Autobots to locate after the Great Exodus was completed. I was not aware of Alpha Trion's encrypted database."

"In other words, the Decepticons could find them as well." Sheva realized.

"Correct."

"But that wasn't your fault, Optimus." Bulkhead claimed. "You were just following orders. It was the other guys who gave you to do somethin' you weren't supposed to so."

"You are correct, Bulkhead. However, as clerk of Iacon, I should have confirmed these instructions with Alpha Trion before carrying them out. I did not...and as a result, none of those relics had made it to Earth. Alpha Trion had carefully picked the most suitable coordinates, along with the most precise course of travel to ensure their arrival. The artifacts that I had sent out were more than likely lost during their travels, or worse...intercepted by the Decepticons. The Forge of Solus would be useless to them, as it can only be used by a Prime. Other artifacts, however, were dangerous weapons or tools that can be used as such. My mistake may have potentially put many Autobots and neutrals in danger."

Optimus still held himself to the highest responsibility for this poor choice of action. Despite this, Primus still saw fit to name him the next Prime when he went into Cybertron's core. Optimus understood that despite the high standard he must hold himself too as a Prime and as a leader, he is not perfect. Even a Prime can make mistakes...or feel weak and scared. If only Jackson could understand that.

"Hm." Prime thought to himself. 'I should tell Jack about this when I return. Perhaps it will help him."

"Optimus."

The Prime looked down and saw that Chris had come back.

"We've got the transport ready. Whenever you wanna leave, just let me know."

"Thank you, Agent Redfield."

Optimus looked to Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Ratchet. He was thankful that Arcee had decided to stay behind.

"Autobots, we are in a race against the Decepticons to reach that artifact. While it may be of no use to Megatron, he would not allow us to possess it. For whatever reason it may be that he has not already retrieved the Forge of Solus, we must take full advantage. Autobots, Roll Out!"

With the exception of Ratchet, they all took their alt forms. Leon and Helena, who were watching from the walkway, both stood up in shock from the Autobots ability to transform.

"Whoa." Helena said with no breath.

"Scale of one to ten, how hard are you fangirling internally?"

"Like when I was 19 at a Con and I met Laura Bailey, _that_ hard."

"Laura Bailey?"

"Voice actor."

"Oh."

Chris walked over to Optimus, giving his attention elsewhere.

"Sheva, Piers, you're with us. Pick an Autobot and follow us to the strip."

"Sir." They both said together.

"You okay with this, Optimus, us tagging along?"

"It is not ideal for you to accompany us against a potential confrontation with the Decepticons, but I will respect Director O'Brian's conditions for providing us with transport.

Chris entered Optimus' cabin and closed the driver door.

"Number one rule of the B.S.A.A.: Never go without backup, even if you're a badass Autobot."

"A rule that I understand well, Chris. However, I must request this of you...be careful."

Chris lightly pounded the dashboard in a friendly manner.

"You do the same, Prime. June would be awfully upset in something happened to you."

Chris had a smirk on when he said that, but Optimus ignored it. The Autobots drove out of the hangar as Ratchet booted up his comm system. The signal was still strong and there was no sign of Decepticon signatures. Ratchet could only hope for the best. They really needed that forge.

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Megatron stood at the center of the brig, optics fixed on the monitor above Soundwave who was hard at work. The Forge of Solus was the perfect bait to lure Optimus Prime and the Autobots out of hiding. Soundwave had Laserbeak monitoring the area closely, waiting for one of them to arrive. He only needed one, preferably Optimus. He hoped for all of them, but that was highly unlikely. With the destruction of their base in Jasper, the Autobots were more than likely scattered about with their human allies. But one of them was surely to come across the signal. They couldn't ignore the Forge, not when they still needed a new base and a new ground bridge. One of them would show up, he was certain of that.

But he needed to be careful. The Forge could not fall in the hands of the Autobots. It was useless to him, but letting them have it would give back the upper hand he had gained when he destroyed their home. It was pure luck that they had intercepted it during their journey to Earth. Megatron was not going to throw that away. He was still ahead of the curve. Unicron be forsaken if he allowed the Autobots or Umbrella take the higher ground away from him.

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 **Itchy, Tasty**  
 **I've been looking for a way to get that into the story since chapter one, my favorite piece of Resident Evil intel.**  
 **Okay, I took my damn sweet time getting this one up when I should've had it up last week. I apologize for that. I didn't like writing this chapter except for the beginning and the diary segment. Writer's block came back for a second round and for a week, I found myself creatively constipated...There had to be a better way for be to put that. Anyway, before I go into the chapter, there's a few things I should address.**  
 **I know some of you want to know if certain characters will be showing up from both TFP and Resident Evil. As much as I'd like to have everyone from both works, I'm at a point in the story where I think I have all the characters I need. I regret not writing Claire and Sherry in the story earlier, especially with Jack the way he is right now, but I feel like any more characters from this point on would be shoehorning them in. I'm already pushing my luck with Leon and Helena and I have no idea what I'm gonna do with Hannigan. This is in no small part due to the fact that I started writing this story without any real direction of where I wanted to go with it. I won't make that mistake with my future stories from this point forward.**  
 **In an earlier chapter, I asked if I should create my own B.O.W.s to go against the Autobots. Most of you said I should, but I'm still on the fence on that one. I had forgotten when I came up with that idea that I am absolutely devoid of creative juices when it comes to monsters and the like. I have no idea of what kind of B.O.W.s I would create that would still feel like Resident Evil. I'm not killing that idea in the crib. But if I do decide to go that route, I have to hit the drawing board to figure out what to do.**  
 **Now to talk about the chapter. First, I relapsed badly with the Jack drama. Really trying not to make a habit out of that, I swear. And I promise, I have plans for Jackson in future chapters.**  
 **Second, I took a lot...A LOT of liberties with the Iacon Relics. I had to figure out a way to bring the Forge of Solus into the story without the Orion Pax arc or Trypticon, but I didn't want to rely on a plot convenient coincidence.**

 **"Oh, we need a ground bridge. Hey, there's a relic. Look, it's the Forge of Solace. Just what we needed."**

 **So I wrote that Megatron had it and is using it to lure out the Autobots because he knows how badly they need it. I did the best I could with that without making it seem too convenient.**  
 **And because I can't resist making actor allusions, I made Helena a mecha fangirl for the sole purpose of referencing a mecha anime Laura Bailey starred in. I have an obsession.**  
 **Anyways, I'm gonna get my shit together and work to get these out sooner. One a week, that's the goal. I appreciate your patience and I appreciate those who stuck with me during my hiatus and all new readers who began following me in that time as well. You guys are the reason I've gotten this far with the story. Well, I'm tired all hell so I'll see you all next chapter.**


	29. Chapter 29

The flight to Russia was long and boring for the Autobots, but for Optimus Prime, it also left him with uncertainty.

"Ratchet, do you copy?" Optimus said through the comm link.

 _"Yes, Optimus?"_ The medic responded in a slightly annoyed tone.

"What is the status of the Forge?"

 _"Status is the same as an hour ago and the several before that. The Forge hasn't gone anywhere."_

Optimus sighed. He understood Ratchet's annoyance.

"Alright, then. Inform me if there are any changes."

 _"I will, Optimus."_

Optimus remained silent in his alt, which was strapped down in the cargo hangar of the aircraft he was in. Bumblebee was across from him, also remaining silent. Agent Redfield was upfront with the pilot, discussing the matter at hand. Bulkhead and Wheeljack were with Agent Alomar and Agent Nevans in a separate aircraft. Optimus looked over to Bumblebee, who was clearly uncomfortable being tied down in his alt. It was an inconvenience, but also a necessity. They were just too big for the aircraft. They could have requested one that was large enough to accommodate their size, but their comfort was not a priority. Speed was the important factor of this mission, getting to the Forge before the Decepticons.

Optimus noticed by now that his scout had not expressed a single complaint since they embarked on this long journey. Bumblebee was never one to handle discomfort for too long without letting his allies know. For him to be this quiet was a sign of his troubles.

"Bumblebee." Optimus called.

The scout beeped back suddenly, obviously in his own little world before being addressed.

"What troubles you?"

Even in his alt form, Bumblebee was too easy read. He never could hide much from anyone, his expressions very telling of what he was thinking. He took a nano-click or two to answer back.

 **"I'm thinking about Raf."**

"I see...And may I ask what is bothering you about your charge?"

 **"It's just...We left in such a hurry. I didn't ask Rebecca or anyone to keep an eye on him."**

Of course, he was worried about Rafael. They were all worried for the children and June, given what they had endured before abandoning the base. They not only witnessed and narrowly escaped an onslaught brought on by Umbrella's weapons, but had also lost a place they had called home for a long time.

"Rafael is a responsible young man. I have no doubt that he will remain safe back home and out of trouble."

That didn't feel right to Optimus. The B.S.A.A. base was not home to them. Grateful as he was to be given a safe haven from Umbrella, it was only that, a safe place. But it wasn't home, it wasn't Jasper. Bumblebee had gone silent again. Optimus knew that he was still worried.

 **"Optimus?"**

"Yes, Bumblebee?"

 **"Are the kids gonna be okay?"**

The tone his voice was a reminder of how young Bumblebee truly was, just barely a mech and still like a sparkling in so many ways. Optimus didn't know the answer to his question. He had many feelings about the situation, most of them not optimistic. He never wanted to lie to his Autobots, but he did not wish to discourage them either.

"This is a very difficult time for our human companions. They need us now, more than ever. With our help, we may bring them back from what the what they have all suffered through. It will not be an easy road, but they need our help. Have faith, Bumblebee. We can only help them if we believe they _can_ be helped."

Optimus hoped that was good enough for his scout. The silence that followed left him with uncertainty. Unfortunately, this was going to have to wait until the mission was completed. But with the distance still left to travel, Optimus had a lot of time to think about the mother and son he was so worried about.

'June, Jackson...Please, don't give up on us.' The Prime sadly thought to himself.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Leon stood alongside Helena as they listened to Jill Valentine explain everything that's happened over the past month or so. She explained how she knew Jackson Darby and his mother June, how Jackson was bitten by a zombie but was cured by a vaccine. They learned that Albert Wesker, a name Leon remembered from a file Claire had found in the Raccoon City lab, was still alive and had his sights set on Jackson. The learned about his blood and what it could mean for them or Umbrella if Wesker got his hands on him.

Leon never even knew a vaccine for the T-Virus existed, let alone was a failure. But apparently, Jackson's blood was immune to the T-Virus and could potentially be used for a real vaccine against it. There was also the possibility that his blood could be the catalyst for a vaccine against all of Umbrella's viruses, including the C-Virus. It was no wonder Umbrella wanted this kid so badly. The threat he posed to them was beyond anything either the D.S.O. or the B.S.A.A. could ever be.

But there was a darker side to this situation. Wesker wanted Jackson's blood to create some new kind of virus or a new B.O.W., maybe both for all they knew. Umbrella's endgame was human enhancement, the idea of some kind of super virus or an enhanced monster was not beyond the realm of possibility when you add the kid's immunity to the equation. Umbrella even went as far as to abduct and infect his absent father and set the man after his own son.

"Oh, no." Leon said suddenly.

"What's up, Leon?" Helena asked as she observed the alarmed agent.

Leon thought for a moment about what Jill had just told him.

"Agent Valentine, can you tell me exactly what Jackson's father looked like in his mutated state?"

Leon prayed to God that it wasn't what he thought. Jill's disturbed expression was a bad sign.

"He was bigger than most other B.O.W.s, almost as big as the Tyrants."

"Was he partially mutated?"

Jill's sudden surprise was also a bad sign.

"Yes...How did you know that?"

Leon took a deep breath. There was one sure fire way to tell if it was a G-Mutation.

"Did he have an enlarged third eye somewhere on his body?"

Jill didn't answer the question, but her silent look of shock was all the answer he needed. The answer left Leon feeling defeated.

"I figured as much."

"Leon?" Helena curiously asked.

"Joshua Darby was injected with the G-Virus."

"What?" Jill asked in shock.

"I fought one in Raccoon City. It fits the profile of everything you just described."

"Oh my God." Jill said with a shortness of breath. "That's the G-Virus?"

"It gets worse."

Jill looked back up at Leon.

"I know what Wesker was trying to accomplish by infecting Joshua Darby and sending him after Jackson."

Jill was giving Leon her complete attention, but Leon heard the movement of metal limbs and saw that the medic, Ratchet had also begun listening to him.

"I'm sure you know who William Birkin is."

"Yeah, he was the one that created the G-Virus. He used worked at the Arklay Mountain facility." Jill answered.

"Do you know he had daughter, Sherry Birkin?"

Leon knew that this was news to Jill.

"No...I didn't know that."

Leon took a moment before beginning his story.

"Umbrella had tried to assassinate Birkin and steal a sample of the virus. He had plans to betray them and sell it to the US Military in exchange for their protection. The hit would have been a success if the Umbrella Ops had made sure that Birkin was dead. They left him to die and he injected himself with the G-Virus, becoming the same type of creature that attacked you guys at the Autobot's base."

"That's the thing chased after you and Chris' sister?" Jill asked.

"One of them. It was stronger and more vicious than anything else we encountered, aside from the Tyrant. However, it didn't set out to just kill anything that moved. It also intended to spread the virus through its embryo."

Jill's shocked face became of both shock and disgust.

"What do you mean, embryo?" Ratchet, who was now standing among them, asked.

"The G-Mutation is designed to search for suitable host to infect with the G-Virus. It implants an embryo through the mouth and into the stomach where it tries to adapt to the human host."

"Primus." Ratchet said loudly in a clearly disgusted tone.

"The idea, I believe, is to have a perfect bonding of the virus with human D.N.A. and creating whatever it is that Umbrella is trying to create. The problem is, the host and virus are often incompatible. Chief of Police was implanted with an embryo but it rejected him. It ended up cutting its way out and growing on its own."

"In other word..." Jill began. "It's just another failed virus."

"Not exactly."

Leon readied himself. This is where it gets very disturbing.

"Birkin may not have known about this when he injected himself, but as a G-Mutation, his instincts made him search for his daughter, who had run away from the facility when the outbreak had occurred."

"What? Why would he do that?" Jill asked.

"Because of their shared D.N.A." The agent replied. "As his daughter, Sherry Birkin was biologically compatible with the embryo his body produced."

The implication was realized.

"His daughter? He tried to implant his daughter?" Jill asked.

"Tried, succeeded."

Even Helena was disgusted by that.

"Had Claire not gotten her the vaccine in time..."

Leon didn't finish. He actually had no idea what a cellular bond with the virus would've resulted in, nor did he want to.

"So what you're saying, Agent Kennedy..."

Leon looked up to Ratchet.

"Is that Jack's father went after him so he could implant an embryo inside his body?"

There was a brief moment of hesitance to answer.

"All signs point to that, Doctor Ratchet."

Ratchet turned around and walked back to his console, leaning over the controls with a disturbed look across his face.

"Wesker..." Jill said to herself. "You sick bastard."

"We can't tell Jack about this." Ratchet proclaimed.

"Why is that?" Leon asked.

"He thinks his father might still be alive." Jill answered.

"Is he?" Helena asked.

"No." Said Ratchet. "Not even the thing Wesker turned him into could survive what the Decepticons did to Jasper. He's dead. I'd stake my reputation on it."

"So then, why hide it from him?" Asked Helena.

"Because Jack is in a very bad place right now." Jill responded. "This whole thing has pushed to the edge. If he finds out about this, thinking his father is still out there..."

Leon saw the worry in Jill's eyes, realizing just how much she cared about Jackson Darby. It reminded him of Claire and how she came to care for Sherry enough that after they all escaped Raccoon City, she became her legal guardian.

"Where is Jack Darby?"

Jill looked at Leon.

"In his quarters. Why?"

"Thought maybe I could talk to him. I don't know...Maybe I can help him."

Jill and Ratchet were looking at him know, each wondering if they should let Leon try his hand at helping Jack. No one else at base had any luck before. It seemed unlikely that a total stranger would be any more successful. But the both of them were desperate to help Jack any way they could. Letting Leon talk to him couldn't hurt.

"I'll take you to him." Ratchet said.

"No." Jill countered. "You keep working on Jack's eye. I'll take him."

"Very well."

Both Leon and Jill left to go find Jack, leaving Helena with Ratchet.

"His eye?" Leon questioned.

"Fowler didn't tell you?" Jill replied.

"No."

Jill looked forward, trying to hide the emotion on her face.

"You'll see. You'll see just how twisted Albert Wesker is."

Helena looked up at the platforms, seeing the other two children peeking over the edge. As much as she wanted to try and help them like Leon, she was never very good with kids. Still, she didn't like the idea of them being caught up in this mess. Umbrella never had any qualms about hurting children.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Leon was led back to the room where Ratchet had taken them earlier that day. Jill peeked inside, nodding at someone, looking very concerned at someone else, and signaled Leon to go in. Leon stepped into the large room and saw a black haired youth sitting on a small bed, seemingly disconnected to the world around him.

"Can I help you?"

Leon turned to see another Autobot, standing against the far wall. She was smaller than the others and apparently female if her voice was of any indication.

"You must be Arcee."

"I am. And you are?"

"Leon Scott Kennedy of the Division of Security Operations."

"Oh, right. You're the one who gave Fowler the intel on Umbrella."

Leon turned back to Jackson, noticing that he hadn't acknowledged anything that was happening.

"You must be Jackson Darby. I heard a lot about you."

Jackson lifted his head to look at Leon, showing him what Umbrella had done to his eye. The agent's reaction to the sight of it was subtle, a small change in expression, hiding what he felt very well. How could Umbrella do something like this to a kid, and for what purpose? What good was Jackson's right eye to them?

"Nice to meet you, kid."

He held out his hand to Jack, which was taken and shook in kind, but not with much emotion. The kid was merely going through the motions of formality. He looked to be somewhere else, somewhere with no Umbrella maybe.

"Sorry, Agent Kennedy was it?"

Leon looked over to the female Autobot.

"Jack really needs his rest. He's dealing with a lot right now."

"I understand. I just wanted to have a word or two with him and then I'll leave him be."

Leon kept his focus on Arcee until she hesitantly nodded that he could continue. Leon turned back to Jackson, who had lowered his head once again. Leon eyed a nearby chair and pulled it closer so he could take a seat in front of Jack.

"I heard about what happened your old man."

Jack looked away suddenly. This was something he didn't want to talk about, Leon figured.

"I'm sorry that this is happening to you and your mom, kid. I'm sorry you and your friends saw what you saw and lost your home."

Jack shrunk with every reminder of what Umbrella had taken from him.

"I can't change any of that or give back what you lost. I wish I could, but..."

Jack wasn't even listening. He was shut off from the world, maybe even shutting down altogether. Leon took a moment to think. He decided to approach from a different direction.

"I know someone like you, a kid who's been through the same hell."

Jack didn't seem to process what Leon said right away, but looked up after a few seconds. Leon had his attention.

"She's about your age, still in high school. Well, she's home schooled now. Anyway, she's like you, Jack. She was kid in Raccoon City when it all went to shit."

Jack's attention was more focused now. Leon was beginning to reach him.

"Me and my friend, Claire, we found her wandering the police station alone, so we protected her. Both her parents worked for Umbrella, so she was pretty much on her own."

"They..."

Leon was surprised when Jack spoke to him.

"They died?"

"Eventually, yes. But when we found her...Her mother was 'preoccupied' with something she felt was more important."

"And her father?"

"Well, you see...You and Sherry have a lot more in common than you realize. Her father...he was infected with the G-Virus, just like yours."

Jack's single eye was widened with shock and he sat straighter for a moment.

"The G-Virus...that's what they put in my Dad?"

"Do you know what that is?"

"Not really...I heard the name but...I just figured it was the same as the T-Virus."

"That was just a failure...I guess this was a failure too, because...Well, you've seen what it does."

Jack looked away again, shutting his eye to block out whatever was in his head.

"Anyway...We stopped her father and we all escaped, but...Well, Sherry was just a little girl who'd lost her both her parents. She saw things no one should see. She needed a lot of help."

Jack leaned back into the wall, still looking away.

"It took time, but she came back. She lives with Claire now. Everything that's happened to her, she put it behind her. All the things she'd seen, she's come back from it. It wasn't easy and didn't happen overnight, but she's still here. Do you understand?"

Jack didn't answer back, nor was he looking at Leon. But his eye wasn't as distant as just moments ago. He seemed to be thinking to himself now, instead of just drifting off in his own world. Leon moved from the chair to his bed and put a firm hand of Jack's shoulder.

"Look, kid...I know you're not in a good place right now. I can't imagine what you're going through anymore than I could with Sherry...It didn't break her, though...and it won't break you. I don't know you from a hole in the wall and I'm just some ex-cop you've never seen before, but from what I've heard from Fowler, you're one tough kid. And you still have your mother. You've got one person to keep fighting for, no matter what. Don't let Umbrella beat you. They haven't won yet. You're a bigger threat to them than anyone in this base. They're living on borrowed time and they know it. And I know there's a lot people here you can talk to if you need to. Just know you've got one more...You're gonna be alright, Jack. Just hang in there."

Leon stood up and looked over to Arcee, giving her a nod. The female transformers mouthed the words "thank you" back, showing her appreciation. As he left, Leon cast a glance over her shoulder. Jack was still sitting on his bed, still looking a million miles away. But Leon knew that what he said had stuck. It was small, too small to see maybe, but it was a ray of hope for the kid. That's all Leon wanted, to give the kid some hope. He needed it. They all needed it.

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Optimus drove down from the ramp of the aircraft and took his bipedal form. He was stiff from staying in his alt for such a long amount of time. Bumblebee drove from the aircraft and transformed as well, groaning loudly in a strange buzzing sound.

 **"That was a boring flight."**

Optimus, once again, contacted Ratchet.

"Ratchet, we have landed in Russia. We will proceed on the ground to the Forge. What is its status?"

 _"The Forge is still there, Optimus. You've got a bit of a drive from your current location. I suggest you head there quickly before your luck runs out."_

"Indeed. I will contact you when we have retrieved it."

Optimus saw Bulkhead and Wheeljack pulling up to him and Bumblebee. Piers and Sheva exited Bulkhead's alt, allowing him to transform along with Wheeljack.

"Really miss the Jackhammer." Wheeljack said as he rotated his right arm to work the stiffness out. "She coulda' got us here in less than half the time."

"We will proceed on wheels from here. Everyone is to remain on alert for any signs of Decepticon presence." Optimus ordered.

"You think they could be around, Boss?" Bulkhead questioned.

"I am not sure, Bulkhead, but I find it highly suspicious that the Forge has remained untouched for the amount of time it took us to come here."

"You're thinkin' it might be another trap." Bulkhead stated.

"It is a strong possibility. The forge is located near the Stony Tunguska River, the site of an impact event. The area is surrounded with particles of the fallen meteor that may be interfering with our sensors. The beacon was designed to send out a signal powerful enough to withstand this interference, but the Decepticons may be using it to hide themselves. Be cautious, all of you."

"Yes, Sir." Bulkhead responded.

Optimus turned his optics to Chris, Sheva, Piers, and the other B.S.A.A. agents.

"I understand that you wish to help, but it is best that you remain here."

Chris looked as if he wanted to protest, as did Sheva and Piers, but none of them had any argument to counter with. Reluctantly, Chris nodded his head in agreement.

"Thank you." Optimus responded.

Optimus and the others took their alt forms and left to find the Forge of Solus. Once they were far enough away, Chris looked to Piers.

"Take inventory of our arsenal and see if we have anything we can use."

"Yes, Sir."

Piers went to carry out his command as Sheva walked up beside Chris.

"What are you planning, Chris?" She asked.

Still looking at the Autobots in the distance, Chris answered.

"I've never been one to play the bench, not without at least seeing if there was a way to help. What about you?"

Chris looked to his West African comrade for an answer.

"Chris, you may not have known me as long as Jill, but I think you know me better than that."

The two exchange amused smiles before Piers returned with a pair of Milkor MGL Mk 1Ls.

"We've got a few stocked in both planes." Piers followed.

"I don't know, Piers, grenade launchers?"

Chris then noticed that Piers was also carrying a bag around his shoulder. He put the bag down on the ground and pulled out three packs of grenade rounds. Two of them were in boxes labeled "Black Panther", one light blue and one dark blue, electric and flash. The other was a three packed container with a ice blue cap, nitrogen.

"There's a few more of these two in the carrier." Piers said as he pointed at both the nitrogen and electric rounds. "We've got more of these." He followed as he pointed to the flash rounds. "The rest are just standard rounds and a few napalms."

Chris began rubbing his chin. He wondered how well these would work against a Decepticon. It was foolish to test them out in the middle of a battlefield, but if the Autobots needed their help...

"Bring all of it." Chris said.

"Sir?" Piers asked.

"C'mon, let's move these carriers close enough to follow on foot. If somethin' goes down, it'll happen before we get there. Let's try and stay out sight until then."

The trio entered one of the air-crafts and the both of them took off after the Autobots. They intended to maintain a safe enough distance until they knew what was going on. Chris wanted to respect Optimus' wishes. But he had lost too many allies, too many friends, to let this all go down without him. And Optimus Prime was Chris' friend, that much he knew.

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Optimus and his team had made the drive to the location of the beacon. They came upon a large forest, too thick with trees to proceed by vehicle mode. At least, had time not been working against them, that would have been the case. Even though Optimus took the preservation of the planet's natural terrain very seriously, he broke the rules to reach the Forge of Solus by running down trees and creating a path for his teammates. This served to only make him feel less Prime worthy than he already did. But the Forge was of great importance. Optimus kept forward until he came upon a clearing where the trees seemed to stop growing altogether. The Autobots followed behind and they all transformed to observe the area.

This large section of the forest, a circle in the midst of it all, was barren. No trees grew from the ground. Not even grass rose from the dirt beneath their pedes. Optimus wondered if this was where the Forge had fallen. Considering the size, weight, and speed of impact it would have have upon entering Earth's atmosphere, he decided that it was unlikely to have landed without causing much more damage to the area. Optimus then noticed a crater in the center of the clearing. He signaled his subordinates to keep guard as he approached it.

This seemed all wrong to him. If the Forge had landed in this clearing, the rest of the trees around him would have been wiped out. The crater that he was looking at would've have been much bigger and for it to have landed in the center of such an area, it all seemed too perfect. Optimus stood at the edge of the shallow crater, scanning the surrounding area for any signs of an ambush. It was the ideal set up for one, a thick forest that was difficult to get through, radio interference, easy targeting for an air strike, and them without a ground bridge. But if it was a trap, why hadn't Megatron made his move yet?

Optimus cautiously went into the crater, which was clearly caused by the Forge being dropped from a low altitude. He knelt down to pick it up. Trap or no, once he had it in his servos, the mission would be half complete. Getting out would be the tricky part. He lifted up he great hammer made of gold that was once used by the blacksmith, Solus Prime, expecting an explosion to be triggered underneath it. To his surprise, there was none. There was no bomb rigged beneath it. Optimus was confused. The Forge was clearly placed here and could have only been so by the Decepticons. What were they planning?

"Optimus, do you have it?" Bulkhead called from his position by the forest.

Optimus ignored him, scanning the skies above, searching for an approaching aircraft. He was too focused on the sky, he didn't notice something rising from beneath the dirt. By the time he looked back down and saw it, it was too late. Several blasts to the chassis and Optimus fell on his back, dropping the Forge. When he looked back up, he saw a blue, bird like Mini-con carrying the Forge away with a claw that hung beneath it, despite its small size.

"Laserbeak." He said in realization.

Optimus didn't have to give the command before his three Autobots began firing at Soundwave's companion. It was Bumblebee's well aimed shot that hit Laserbeak and caused it to drop the forge. But before any of them could make the claim for the forging hammer, a ground bridge opened up in front of it. Before they could put their guards up, two aerial vehicles flew from the portal and began firing at the Autobots as they ran circles around them. Optimus recovered and stepped out of the crater, shifting his blasters out. He recognized one pf the two airborne Decepticons as Soundwave. The other, a blue and gold V-Tol, he did not recognize.

As the two Decepticons exchanged fire with the Autobots, Optimus saw several Aerial Drones come through the bridge, followed by Megatron and Airachnid. The bridge closed behind them and the two aerial attackers landed by their master's sides, taking their bipedal forms. Optimus was able to recognize the V-Tol as Dreadwing, Skyquake's twin brother. Megatron walked up to the fallen Forge and placed it behind his back.

"So, the Forge has been with you all along, Megatron." Optimus stated.

"I'm disappointed, Optimus. The Orion Pax I remember was never so careless as to send off such a valuable artifact in such an irresponsible manner."

Optimus sized up his opponents as best he could. The drones would be no problem for him, likely cannon fodder for Megatron. The Warlord himself looked to have been repaired from their battle in Jasper, but he had not replaced his fusion cannon that Optimus had destroyed. The Prime saw that his arm was patched up, but not fully repaired. Airachnid was not terribly injured by Arcee and was more or less at her full potential. Soundwave was not present during the battle. He was one of the two bigger threats. The other was Dreadwing. Both of them were known for their fighting skills. Dreadwing had a powerful arsenal at his disposal and Soundwave, like Megatron, was a veteran gladiator from Kaon. Both of them would be very difficult to take down.

Optimus, while patched up well enough, was not at one hundred percent. His helm injury from Megatron was still slowing him down. The same could be said about Bulkhead after his fight with Breakdown while Bumblebee was still moving a little slower from his stab wound given to him by Knockout. Both Decepticons were not present, most likely due to their injuries. While Wheeljack was in full function, he was also under-equipped, lacking any grenades he often made great use of. The odds were not in their favor. Optimus regretted telling Arcee to stay behind.

The Autobots stood with their backs to the forest and their weapons aimed at the Decepticons. But to their confusion, neither Megatron nor his men made a combative move. There was something else in play here. Why would Megatron set a trap while he and his followers were still recovering?

"What do you want, Megatron?" Optimus demanded to know.

Even though his posture was non-combative, Megatron's face was anything but peaceful. He was angry about something, that was obvious to all of them.

"I want answers, Optimus Prime." The scowling warlord replied.

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Arcee watched as Jack took another shot at eating. His food was probably cold by now, which she knew was not something humans enjoyed. Still, she was grateful to Leon Kennedy for what he had said to him. There was another person out there who had been through the same storm that Jack was currently struggling through. She was tempted to ask Leon to bring the young girl here to perhaps talk to Jack. But she thought it'd be wrong to involve someone that had nothing to do with this, especially since she had been involved with Umbrella already. Jack may not have been lifted by more than a few inches after Leon's talk, but it was the most progress any of them had made. Arcee was desperate to find any hope that he would be okay, however little. But the fact that a total stranger had done more for him than she could was discouraging. It made her think about the things Airachnid had said to her, about her failures to protect all of her partners.

Arcee kept her optics on the silent Jack as he kept on trying to eat his food. He managed a few more bites, but ultimately pushed his tray away. At least he hadn't thrown up again.

'Sparkling steps.' She thought to herself.

She walked up behind Jack, observing the food that was left, still more than half. She looked down at Jack, who was once again staring off at nothing. This wasn't healthy for him, she thought.

"C'mon, Jack. Let's take a walk."

Like usual, Jack's response was slow. He kept his focus on wherever he was looking before giving an answer. Arcee wished that she could take him for a ride, but with Jack's safety being the issue, it just wasn't an option. Jack pushed himself up and looked up at Arcee. He still looked so tired and weak and still so lost. He looked back to whatever might be in front of him, waiting for Arcee to lead the way.

"After you." Arcee said.

She preferred to keep her optics on him. She was still scared to let him out of her sight. The pair walked down the corridor and into the main hall, where everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. Jack inhaled at the attention, averting his eye to the ground. Arcee could tell that attention was something he didn't want right now. Everyone, for the most part, saw his reaction and carried on with whatever they were doing. But Arcee felt all their glances when they walked by, knowing that Jack felt them too. As they walked under the platforms, Arcee looked up and saw Rafael and Miko watching them both. They looked at Arcee, such worry on their little faces. Arcee tried her best to reassure them with a smile. But their expressions did not change. Jack was taking extra care not to look up at them, Arcee noticed. He didn't want them to see how bad he looked. Unfortunately, that seemed make them worry even more. They finally left the hangar with no destination in mind.

Leon watched them leave, turning back to see the two sad children go back over to the couch where they were sitting, the little one with his head down while the older one put her arm around him.

"Hang in there, Jack." He said to himself again.

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Jack and Arcee walked around the base for about an hour. Arcee found some amusement whenever a group of soldiers, or even a drill sergeant, would stop what they were doing to look at her with awe. It felt good not to have to hide for once and she was happy that the humans were only amazed by her and not afraid. But that didn't distract her from her current predicament, Jackson. The two eventually came to an interior fence that looked over the desert of wherever they were. The outer fence, manned by armed guards, obscured their view slightly. But then, there wasn't much to look at anyway. That didn't seem to stop Jack from looking on with a thousand yard stare at absolutely nothing.

"I didn't think it was possible to have less to look at than Jasper. But here we are?" Arcee said.

That was a bad opener, she thought. Why on Earth did she bring up his home that wasn't there anymore? When Arcee was done cringing to herself, she tried again.

"Ya'know, maybe if we had someone scout ahead, Optimus might let us go for a ride out there. I feel like I haven't burned rubber in vorns."

She looked down at Jack.

"If I can convince him when he gets back, would you be up for it?"

Jack probably didn't even hear the actual question.

"Sure."

It was a verbal answer at least.

"Alright then, fingers crossed." Arcee looked back out into the nothingness of the desert. "I'm sure he'd understand. You need to get out of here for a while. Hopefully, Airachnid won't crash the party like she did last time. A little ride through the desert might do a world of good for you."

"Okay."

Arcee looked back down to see Jack leaning his head forward against the fence. He had shut his eye either to get lost in his head again, or to shut something out.

"Jack?"

No answer. Arcee lowered her helm, feeling Jack slipping away from her again.

"Jack..."

Jack opened his eye.

"'Cee?"

Arcee didn't want to ask him this, but by now, she was afraid.

"If you were...I mean...You're not..."

Jack looked up at her.

"Arcee?"

"Jack, you don't want to die, do you?"

Arcee couldn't look at him when she asked that, nor control the strain of her voice.

"What?" Jack practically gasped as he finally looked up at her with some emotion.

"With everything that's happened, you're not thinking about killing yourself...are you?"

Arcee couldn't see the horror upon Jack's face, nor the hurt that she would even think he would do such a thing.

"No...No, Arcee. I wouldn't..."

"Promise?" Arcee cut him off as she looked at him.

Arcee saw something in his eye, the look of regret.

"Yeah, I promise...Wh-why would you think that?"

Arcee looked down again.

"I feel like I'm losing you, Jack."

She knew how her voice sounded. She'd heard it in June's voice, in Jack's, Miko's, and Rafael's when things became too much for them.

"Every time I see you standing there with nothing to say, no emotion whatsoever, I..."

Arcee had never felt like this before, this helpless.

"I'm scared...Scared that if I'm not around, you might..."

"Arcee, stop." Just tried to cut her off.

"I can't, Jack. I can't forget how you were when you told us what happened and I don't know how to help you. I just...What kind of partner am I that I can't do anything for you? I'm afraid that if I look away for even a second...you'd disappear."

"Arcee."

Jack moved closer to her. She was still unable to look at him.

"I could never face your mother again. I wouldn't be able to take another partner. I couldn't even keep on fighting. If I lost you...I'd..."

Arcee felt something against her leg. She looked down to see Jack resting himself against her, holding her as best he could.

"Just stop." He said with the same emotion that Arcee had. "I'm not going anywhere. You're not gonna lose me."

Arcee couldn't take it, she couldn't hide herself from him. She knelt down and took him in both her servos, holding him close to her spark.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Swear it by the All-Spark."

"I swear by the All-Spark, before Primus, on all I hold dear to me." Jack looked up into Arcee's optics. "Including you."

Arcee held him tighter when he said that, but she was still afraid.

"Arcee, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you think that I...I'm sorry."

Jack was in tears by this point.

"It's okay, Jack."

"I'm really sorry."

"Ssshhh, it's alright. Just...tell me you can get through this."

"I can, Arcee. I will." He looked up. "I promise, I will. I just..."

There were many reasons for Jack's distant behavior, but the one that stood above the rest...

" _I just wish I could've said goodbye_." He tearfully said. " _I still love him. He's my Dad._ "

For a moment, Arcee wished she could've known what it was like to have a mother or a father. To feel the love that June showed Jack or the bond he once felt with Joshua. Even if it meant the hurt of betrayal such as when Joshua abandoned him, or the pain of loss because of what happened to him, Arcee wondered what that love felt like. But her father was Primus, the creator of all Cybertronians. Still, she understood that Jack was hurting and the only thing that could help him was time. He was going to need lots of it and she would stick with him every step of the way.

Arcee released Jack from her embrace, allowing the teen to wipe away his tears. She gently stroked the side of his face, brushing away a tear he missed. It hurt her spark to see him cry, but she was able to smile for him. He needed to be able to express the hurt he felt so that he could heal. This was another step forward to the other end of this.

"Let's go back. There's nothing to do here." She said.

The two went back to the hangar, going around the back entrance to avoid the others. Jack entered his room with Arcee behind him. The teen removed his shoes and climbed onto his bed. However, he changed his mind and reached under the bed to pull out an old sleeping bag he had found in the vacant room that became his when they first arrived. Arcee watched as Jack unrolled the bed onto the floor, wondering why he was doing that?

"What are you doing?" She asked.

Jack removed his shirts, separating the the long sleeve from the short and putting the latter back on.

"I've been in that bed all day. This is better, for now."

Jack got comfortably into his sleeping bag. He was only laying down for now. His vitals didn't indicate that he was ready to sleep. He was facing the bed to his side with his back to Arcee. Even though Optimus' warning was still in the back of her mind, she wanted to show Jack that she trusted him and his promise.

"I'm gonna go grab a cube of energon. I'll be right back."

"You want me to go with you?" He asked as he looked over.

"No, get your rest. It'll only take a click."

"Alright, I'll be here."

Arcee left Jack alone, who remained where he was. He thought a lot about the conversation he had with Arcee and with Leon earlier. He felt so guilty about causing Arcee to think he would take his own life. He would never, not in a million years. He couldn't dare cause his mother that kind of pain, and from what she had shown, Arcee as well. He could never face his beloved grandparents in the afterlife for hurting their daughter so or either of Arcee's partners for the same reason. He'd never be worthy of the Key to Vector Sigma, to even stand in Optimus' presence. No, he'd never take his own life, especially since he had a role to play in all of this. It was like Leon said, he was a greater threat to Umbrella than either the Autobots or the B.S.A.A.

When Arcee returned with a cube of energon, Jack was asleep. He was on his side and facing the doorway with his arm held out on the ground. Arcee placed the cube of energon on the floor and walked over to her sleeping partner. She lied on the ground next to Jack, putting them at face level, somewhat. He looked peaceful now, seemingly getting a restful sleep. But she knew he still had a journey ahead of him. But her tire tracks would be right there beside his foot prints. Whether or not she could really help him, she would be by his side. Gently, she moved her large servo beneath the hand he held outward, letting it rest in the center. She hoped he knew that she was there, that she was with him. She wanted to squeeze his hand to let him know, but didn't want to hurt him. She felt herself ready to power-down, but remained online for a little while longer.

"I love you, Jack...Please, don't leave me."

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"I want answers, Optimus Prime."

Megatron stared down his nemesis, who held that signature fierce gaze of a Prime. Hard to believe that this was once the mild mannered Orion Pax.

"Answers to what, Megatron?" Optimus replied.

Megatron thought back to the horrors he saw in Jasper, Nevada.

"I want to know what in the Pit that was in Jasper."

There was skepticism in the Prime's face. Well placed skepticism, mind you.

"This is why you lured us here with the Forge of Solus, to learn about the B.O.W.s?"

"To learn about the vermin that stole my victory from me!"

"Yeah, right." The Autobot brute, Bulkhead, claimed. "You're probably lookin' for ways to get some of your own. That's why you got Wesker up there with you! Yeah, we know about that!"

Megatron was angered by what Bulkhead was suggesting, wondering how they knew that. He looked over his shoulder to Airachnid, knowing she must've been the one to let it slip to one of them, Arcee most likely.

"We'll you can frag right off, Buckethead! If you want to know about those things, go ask your new best friend!" Bulkhead continued on.

Megatron ignored Bulkhead's banter, focusing solely on Optimus. He knew enough about the Prime to know that he had already pieced together what happened.

"He has escaped your grasp."

Megatron growled beneath his breath.

"Yes, he has."

"You were a fool to trust him, Megatron."

"I did not trust him!" Megatron spat. "I was using him to find out what he knew about you. You're human boy, Jackson Darby, let the name Umbrella slip to Airachnid and piqued my interest. I intended to learn why Wesker was so interested in you and your Autobots."

"And true to your arrogance, you overestimated the control you had over him." Optimus finished.

It always angered Megatron when someone called him out. When that someone was Optimus, it angered him by triple.

"The little pest managed to slip through the cracks of my ship and unleash his beasts. I want to know what they were and why he set them loose on you all."

Megatron watched Optimus closely, who remained silent for the time being. He was weighing his options, Megatron figured.

"Give us the Forge and I will tell you what you wish to know."

No, Megatron was not going to barter with his worst enemy. He responded by taking the Forge between his clawed servos, keeping a firm grasp on both ends.

"You will tell me about Wesker and Umbrella or I will break this Prime artifact in two!"

"You will not, Megatron!" Prime yelled as he and his Autobots aimed their blasters.

The Decepticons responded by doing the same, outnumbering the four Autobots. Megatron smiled from his position of power.

"It took you quite some time to come here, Optimus. It must be difficult for you not to have a base to return to and lick your wounds or a ground bridge to provide an easy path to your destination. Without the Forge of Solus, you will never rebuild your sanctuary. Tell me everything, Optimus, or lose the only hope you have of regaining what you've lost."

Optimus expression showed Megatron that he understood the situation that he was in. The Autobots were at their mercy and Megatron enjoyed every moment of it.

"Very well. I will tell you everything about Umbrella." Optimus said in surrender.

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The forest was thick, providing easy cover for Chris and his men. However, it also made seeing what was going on through the trees incredibly difficult. He, Sheva, and Piers had moved just close enough to get a decent view of the Autobots and the Decepticons that stood across from them.

They were outnumbered, Chris could tell that much. Several of them were indistinguishable from one another, clearly faceless fodder for their leader. The ones that stood out did so in a big way. The single female looked more vicious than the pack of them, the dark one without a face seemed ominous as he just stood there, the big one holding the huge weapon looked meaner than the rest, and the spiky one that stood among all of them made him think of a robotic version of Genghis Khan. These were not weak Decepticons, Chris concluded.

Agent Redfield signaled some of his other men to take positions ahead of them. They did as commanded while remaining unnoticed. Perhaps the Decepticons were too caught up in the conversation between Optimus and who had to be Megatron to see them. They were each armed with grenade launchers, some loaded with different types of rounds. Chris hoped that his plan would work, because he and his team would be screwed if it didn't.

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Megatron stood where he was, shocked, horrified, and intrigued at the same time. Optimus explanation seemed to satisfy his curiosity. However, he left out everything Jackson had to do with it, so as not to give Megatron any interest in him. Optimus let Megatron believe that Wesker was merely trying to silence Jack for Raccoon City's destruction. Airachnid, however, looked as if she knew better than that. But then, she had her own interest in Jack and would not want Megatron to get in her way.

"Bio-Organic Weapons...created from human D.N.A. and a virus."

There was a twisted smile on Megatron's face. Optimus feared that Bulkhead may have been right about him seeking to gain control over Umbrella's weapons himself.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, I'm impressed with these humans. To be able to create such living weapons from their own kind, to turn such weak beings into an army of monsters."

Megatron looked to Optimus.

"If only Shockwave were here. He'd find some amusement to know that a few humans were able to put aside morality to pursue a higher goal such as evolution. Perhaps this race isn't as pathetic as I thought."

"Megatron, heed my warning. These creatures cannot be controlled. Umbrella has only managed to create a plague that will destroy all that is caught in its path. Their weapons are a danger to you as well as us. Even they are not safe from their creations."

"Do you take me for a fool, Optimus?! You believe me to be so shortsighted that I would even consider such means to conquer this planet?! While I am surprised by what Umbrella has accomplished, I know better than to try and control those 'things'! It does make me laugh to know that Wesker's desire to ascend the human race has ultimately led to the means of their own extinction. But this 'T-Virus' will also leave this planet infested with more monsters than we could possibly hope to destroy. Make no mistake, Optimus, Umbrella is an enemy to the Decepticon cause."

The Autobots lowered their guard, except for Optimus.

"Wesker released his weapons on us as well as you. He will pay in blood. And I intend to destroy Umbrella and all traces of their virus to protect my empire."

The smile he wore earlier had returned, filling the Prime with unease.

"Perhaps...an alliances is required so that we may stop these arrogant humans."

The Autobots were struck with confusion and shock, as were the Decepticons. Only Optimus didn't appear to change his expression.

"I don't intend to make peace with you, Optimus. Once Umbrella is dealt with, our war will continue. But for the sake of both our endgames, I propose a truce."

Megatron held his servo outward for Optimus to take, but the Prime was hesitant. Neither side seemed to be willing to follow Megatron's request. Optimus stepped forward, moving in front of him.

"Optimus, you can't be serious?!" Bulkhead protested.

 **"It's a trick! It has to be!"** Bumblebee voiced.

"Enough, both of you."

Optimus took a long look at Megatron's servo. It was his left, confirming that his right was still injured. Optimus cautiously moved his arm and slowly locked servos with Megatron. The warlord smugly smiled at him.

"Megatron, you're the one who takes me for a fool."

Megatron's smile disappeared and he shifted the still damaged sword out of his right hand. Optimus acted quickly and yanked Megatron forward into his knee, ceasing his so called sneak attack. As he was hunched over his knee, Optimus reached over him and grabbed the Forge on his back. Realizing what he was doing, Megatron swiped at his lower chassis with his claw, painfully forcing the Prime back. But Optimus held onto the Forge and was able take it from him. When Megatron recovered and saw that Optimus now had it, he signaled his men to move into formation. The Autobots were cornered against the trees, only the single path open to them. None of them wanted to abandon the others by being the first to go. They armed their weapons, waiting for the 'Cons to make the first move.

"What now, Prime?" Wheeljack asked.

"I am not sure, Wheeljack." Optimus said as he placed the Forge behind his back.

"Well, you better think of something fast 'cuz we can't fight in this tight aft space. Plus, we're outnumbered and outgunned."

"Stay calm, Autobots. I _will_ think of something."

Megatron stepped forward with his chipped sword.

"Give me the Forge, Optimus."

"Even in the shadow of a greater threat, you still wish to war with us."

"I _will_ destroy Umbrella, I will crush Wesker beneath my pedes, and I will conquer this planet in the name of the Decepticons. But what I will not do is allow the advantage I achieved when I destroyed your base be wasted by allowing you to survive."

"Megatron...It was that way of thinking that led to the fall of Cybertron."

Optimus shut his face plate, ready for battle, no matter how hopeless it looked.

"I will not allow Umbrella to condemn Earth to the same fate...And you will not stop me."

"You and your Autobots are cornered, Optimus. How can you hope to survive?"

Optimus prepared his blasters to open fire and readied himself to receive it. Somehow, he had to get the Forge to Bumblebee and have him drive it back to Chris Redfield and the others.

Before the first blast could be let off, four projectiles were launched from the forest behind them and into the air above the Decepticons.

"What is that?" Airachnid cautiously questioned.

She was answered by four blinding lights accompanied by four loud bangs. The light was enough to distract them for what came next. Before any of them knew what was happening, they were then struck in their frames by small projectiles from the ground. Upon impact, the projectiles exploded and sent a jolt of electricity through their frames. It wasn't enough to hurt them, but just enough to disorient them for a few moments. Optimus looked down to where the projectiles were coming from and he saw several agents of the B.S.A.A. firing them from below him.

"Optimus!"

The Prime looked behind him and saw Chris signalling him from the path he made earlier.

"We need to go!"

Optimus looked to his Autobots who all nodded to him.

"I could not agree more, Agent Redfield."

With that, Optimus began firing back at the Decepticons along with the agents on the ground as Bumblebee and Wheeljack transformed and allowed several soldiers to enter their vehicles. They drove off back to the direction of the air crafts. Chris, Sheva, and Piers remained with Optimus and Bulkhead and were all firing at Megatron's forces.

"Bulkhead, take the Forge and head back to the others. I will follow shortly.

"You got it, Op."

Bulkhead grabbed the Forge from Optimus' back and transformed with it on his roof.

"Piers!" Chris called.

Piers ceased his fire and entered Bulkhead's alt.

"Go with them, you two." Optimus ordered.

"No, Optimus, we're sticking with you." Chris replied.

"We're not leaving you behind." Sheva followed as she fired another flash round at the Decepticons, blinding them once again.

Optimus increased his fire until he was certain that he had enough room to retreat. He transformed and let Sheva and Chris get in his cabin.

"Roll out!" Optimus said as he drove away from the fight.

Megatron recovered enough to see Optimus getting away.

"Don't let them escape! Destroy them **and** the Forge!"

With that, he and his followers took their aerial forms and gave chase to Autobots and their allies, intent of killing them all. Without a ground bridge to grant them an escape, they were in for one hell of a chase.

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 **I owe you all an apology and an explanation. I am truly sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Things got a little hectic for me over the last few weeks. I ran into some financial troubles and found myself in a bit of a panic as some of my bills started to pile up. I managed to get out from under it with a little help from family and after that, I began looking into going back to school and picking up a trade. This whole minimum wage thing isn't working out for me and I need to find a career. With all this going on, I had to back away from writing for a little while. If and when I start school, I'll try to keep things on a set schedule, but I am really sorry for going so long without an update. Anyway, let's get into the chapter at hand.**

 **It took me writing weeks at a time to finish this chapter and to be honest, it shows. I'm not all that thrilled with the writing, but I just wanted to move past this point to get to the more interesting parts of my story.**

 **The talk with Jack and Leon. I really wish I had written Sherry in somehow because she would be the perfect person to help Jack through his trials. I just can't figure a way to do that without it coming off as forced. Hopefully, Leon's words seemed real enough. I didn't want what he said to magically heal Jack and bring him back to normal, so I made it that Leon's talk would cause Jack to take the first step.**

 **This, of course, led to one of the more enjoyable moments in the chapter between him and Arcee. I really like writing Arcee without walls around her, especially where Jack is concerned. I know her flat out asking Jack if he was thinking about suicide was a bit direct, but I feel by that point, not knowing for sure would have driven her crazy. And yes, Jack's emotional breakdown is still happening, but he's healing little by little. And we know that even after all the ways Joshua betrayed him and his mother, Jack still has love for his old man. That came from a personal place with me and my Dad. Jack is still in a lot of pain, but he's trying to get better, even if it doesn't seem like he is. But we all know that fate and Wesker aren't done with him yet. I feel cruel for the things still to come. And I know, between this and ASOG, I'm running the whole "I love you" bit into the ground. But I felt it was the right moment for Arcee.**

 **The less fun to write parts were the bits following Optimus and the Forge. First thing, I am positive I got something wrong about Tunguska Event. It's funny how in this internet age, where we have all this information at our disposable, a lot of it is unreliable. So whatever I got wrong about the event, I apologize and we'll just chalk it up to artistic license once again. I wasn't sure about the B.S.A.A. and how they managed to lend a hand to the Autobots, but I hope it seems believable. I will address where Dreadwing came from next chapter as well.**

 **Anyway, thank you so much for all your patience and I do apologize for the delay. I'm still trying to stay in front of my schedule and hope to never go this long without an update again. Thanks for sticking with me and I'll see you next chapter.**


	30. Chapter 30

Optimus' alternate semi-truck form may not have been the fastest of the Autobots, but it provided excellent protection for Sheva and Chris as he reloaded his weapon. The electric grenade rounds had worked better than any of them had thought they would. They weren't enough to cause any serious damage to the Decepticons, but they were still able to immobilize them for a small period of time and allowed the Autobots to get out of that death trap of a forest. Now, the Autobots and the B.S.A.A. were trying to outrun the Decepticons and make it back to where they had landed. Chris had the pilots touch down far enough that any enemy wouldn't be able to see them, but not too far as the retreat would have been before they had. However, Chris could not account for the amount of heavy fire they were all falling under thanks to Megatron and his forces who had all taken aerial forms and were raining down on them from above.

Megatron, Chris heard the stories from the Autobots and he had an idea of what the war mongering tyrant who caused the events that led to the doom of their planet was like. He was off by a lot because this guy was way worse than he envisioned. Everything about him yelled destruction personified, from his growling voice to the damned spiky edges of his armor. Even his alien aircraft form was ripped right out the pages of some alien invasion story. What Chris had found most disturbing was how his entire being was as if on the opposite spectrum of Optimus. When he saw Megatron, Chris felt the presence of some sort of "anti-Optimus Prime", if that made any sense. The enemy of the Autobots were a force to reckoned with on their own and yet, they still put in the extra effort to help the B.S.A.A. with Umbrella. Chris respect for these beings had risen a thousand percent, but that wasn't important right now.

"Three nitrogen rounds." Chris said as he checked the cylinder to his reloaded grenade launcher. "Better not."

Chris adjusted the cylinder so that the nitrogen rounds would be fired last. Ratchet had explained how extreme cold could be harmful to Cybertronians, which meant that these rounds could be the most effective against the Decepticons. There were only eleven between himself, Piers, and Sheva, so he needed to save them for the right moment.

All of the Autobots were under heavy fire from the Decepticon aircraft's, but none more than Optimus. Piers was alone with Bulkhead, watching the one grey alien craft coming down hard on Optimus' alt form. He had many electric rounds, but only four nitrogens which Chris thought would be the most effective. He debated with himself whether or not now was the right time to use them. Unfortunately, the big, blue and gold VTOL wasn't giving them any breathing room either.

"Would you just frag off, Dreadwing?!" Bulkhead yelled as he pushed himself to drive faster.

Though, they might've been the ones that got the Autobots out of that jam in the forest, Piers knew that they were handicapping them now. With them riding in their alt forms, the Autobots couldn't transform and fight back properly. And because of what they had done to them, the Decepticon would probably not be dumb enough to ignore them and risk getting hit with electric rounds again. Bulkhead's frame shook as another energon blast hit his roof.

"Argh, Primus Slag It!"

"You okay?" Piers urgently asked.

"Don't worry about me, Piers. I'll get us outta this."

Piers saw the VTOL pass over them and loop back around for another shot at Bulkhead. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he made sure that his launcher was set on another electric round and went to open the passenger door. Bulkhead put a stop to that before he got it more than an inch open.

"Whadya think you're doin?"

"I can tag'em, Bulkhead. Once he gets close enough, I can shut'em down and buy us at least sixty seconds."

"Forget it, Piers. No way am I lettin' you poke your head out there."

"Bulk, you guys are getting rained on here. You'll never make it to the rendezvous and even if you do, you'll be putting our transport in the line of fire."

"We'll figure that out later, but if I let you get killed out there, Optimus will have me for scrap metal."

"C'mon, Bulkhead. I can help you. We got you out of that forest didn't we?"

"You had cover and surprise. The 'Cons ain't happy about takin' a hit from humans and they don't let things slide. I ain't never seen what happens to a human when he gets blasted with one of our weapons. I ain't findin' out today, either."

"Bulkhead, the big guy needs help. Look at him."

Bulkhead looked over to Optimus and he was indeed in need of help. Megatron wasn't letting up on him and he had Sheva and Chris with him. If either he or Bumblebee were gonna be able to help, they needed to shake these tails off of them.

"What do ya' have in mind, Piers?"

Before he could answer, he felt something hit the roof of Bulkhead's alt and fall to the ground. The blue and gold VTOL passed over them again, flying vertically.

"Scrap!"

Piers looked out of the back window and saw that the VTOL had knocked that golden hammer they were looking for off of Bulkhead's roof. The Decepticon was already making a go for it.

"Bust a U-ie. I have an idea." Pier's ordered.

Bulkhead didn't question it and punched it into high gear as he turned around and went back for the Forge. Dreadwing had already transformed and was ready to take the Forge as Bulkhead was speeding towards him. He stayed on course and waited for Pier's big plan. As they got closer, Piers ran to the back of the truck and opened the trunk. At the last moment, he rolled out of the vehicle, allowing Bulkhead to transform and try to rush Dreadwing.

"C'mere, Con!" He yelled as he grappled the newest Decepticon on Earth.

But Dreadwing was much stronger than him and easily tossed him to the side.

"Foolish move, Bulkhead, as one would expect from a Wrecker." Dreadwing insulted.

However, he didn't notice Piers taking position below him with his weapon. It was only when he was hit with another electric round did he realize he'd been tricked

"ARGH!."

Dreadwing fell on one of his knees before seeing the human who had attacked him.

"You'll pay for that, fleshling!"

Piers responded with another round that put him on all fours. Bulkhead ran in front of him with the Forge of Solus and knocked the weakened Decepticon into stasis.

"Punk ass Decepticon!"

Bulkhead transformed and left with Piers and the Forge. Dreadwing came back online in time to see that they were getting away. He transformed again and began firing down at Bulkhead.

"He's on us again." Piers said.

"Got any other ideas. Because, I don't think he'll fall for that last one again."

Piers opened up the cylinder of his weapon.

"One."

Dreadwing ceased his fire on Bulkhead and went to knocked the Forge off of him again. He was going to get close again and clip it with his wing. He was just over Bulkhead, about to rotate his frame. Even if Bulkhead jerked to either side, Dreadwing would still knock it over. Just as he was about to move, the backseat door flew open and Piers leaned out with his launcher. He let off one round and it hit the Decepticon under his right wing.

"Ugh! What?!"

The pain was worse than before and Dreadwing banked to the side and away from Bulkhead. He transformed and examined the wound on his back wing. He had taken minor frost damage, something that could be a problem for a Cybertronian.

"Lord Megatron, the humans, they possess some type of frost weapon." He said into his comm link.

The Autobots were coming up on the two aircraft's. They pulled up and allowed the humans to exit their vehicles. They quickly ran into the aircraft's, but the now transformed Autobots stood their ground. There was no possible way to take to the air with the Decepticons on their tails. The Autobots would not be able to defend them or themselves either. The only option would be to force the Decepticons to retreat before they could go back to base. So they waited for them, standing between them and the humans. Bulkhead held on to the Forge, knowing that leaving it with the humans would draw their attention. Besides, even though he wasn't a Prime, it still made a pretty effective melee weapon.

"Chris, you and your men take cover." Optimus ordered.

"We can still help, Optimus." Chris answered back.

"You have already helped us greatly, but we cannot fight in our alt forms and without the cover they provide, you are exposed. Remain in your airships until we can drive Megatron's forces back."

Chris didn't like riding the bench, but Optimus was right. The Decepticons descended upon the two groups, with Megatron standing in front of them. Aside from Dreadwing, none of them were injured from the agents attacks. Megatron looked beyond angry, his pride having taken a hit by being brought down by humans.

"Optimus Prime!"

Optimus shifted his arm blade, prepared for a second round against Megatron.

"After I finish you and your Autobots, every one of your human pets will suffer. I'll let you live just long enough to watch Airachnid peel the flesh from their small, organic bones."

Optimus took a stance that suggested he was covering the B.S.A.A. to keep Megatron from harming them.

"You have done enough to this planet, Megatron."

"I'm just getting started, Orion."

Megatron shifted his blade from his wrists, as Soundwave took a battle stance, Dreadwing drew his sword, and Airachnid took her spider form and bared both her claws and fangs. They each picked an Autobot, Megatron against Optimus, Airachnid against Bumblebee, Dreadwing against Bulkhead, and Soundwave against Wheeljack. The B.S.A.A. watched from their transport as the two factions stared each other down. The faceless drones seemed to have took positions behind them, most likely to prevent them from getting away.

Megatron roared angrily and all but one of the Decepticons lunged at their opponents. Once again, he was locked, blade in blade, with Optimus. Both of them were still moving slower because of their injuries. Soundwave began striking at Wheeljack with his elongated arms arms and deadly claws, Laserbeak still attached to his chassis. Bulkhead had just barely managed to block Dreadwing's greatsword with the Forge of Solus. Any other weapon would have been cut in half by the large weapon. The blue and gold titan quickly began striking rapidly at Bulkhead, moving much faster than his size should've allowed him too.

Airachnid and Bumblebee had not engaged each other, however. The spider-femme merely smirked menacingly at the scout, leaving him on edge and ready to go toe to toe with her.

" _Bumblebee, was it_?" She asked too politely.

He didn't even respond, aside from an angry look.

" _Such fierce optics. Are you holding a grudge against me too_?"

Bumblebee wasn't going to let her get to him. He didn't want a repeat of what happened with Knockout. The scout kept his optics on her as she began moving slowly around his in circles, looking for an opening to strike.

The Forge of Solus was a strong weapon, but it was slow, especially in the servos of an equally slow Bulkhead. The Wrecker could only block Dreadwing's attacks, but every swing of the hammer was missed quite widely. It wouldn't be long before Bulkhead tired himself out or couldn't block fast enough. Sheva and Chris watched closely, wishing that they could help somehow. Piers had said that the nitrogen rounds could hurt them. There had to be a way to get a good shot at their chests or their heads, where they believed would cause the most damage.

Wheeljack was moving much faster than Bulkhead with his dual katanas, but Soundwave met each strike with matching speed with twice as much ease. It was true what Optimus had said about him, he had also been a gladiator from the pits of Kaon. Wheeljack continued to strike at Soundwave, slashing downward at his shoulder. The blade was stopped against his armor plated arm and parried away, giving his claw a clean opening for Wheeljack's chassis.

"Eyungh!" Wheeljack yelled as Soundwave slashed him across his spark chamber.

The Wrecker was forced to step back, but Soundwave was letting up. Now he was on the offensive and he wasn't going to give Wheeljack anyroom to fight back. Airachnid finally attacked first, leaping straight at Bumblebee. The scout jumped out of her way, letting her land behind him. With a clear shot at her helm, he drew his blaster and took aim. She was too fast, however, as she spun around and swatted his blaster away with one arms, clawing his face with the other. One of her claws went over her optic, causing energon to coat it. He stepped back a few steps to collect himself, but she jumped right on top of him, hissing as her face was inches from his.

Bumblebee grabbed both of the shoulder blades to push her off of him, but she grabbed both his arms and dug her claws deep. Bumblebee made a strange noise, indicating the pain she was inflicting.

" _Don't be such a sparkling, Scout. I've barely severed a few circuits._ "

Try as he could to ignore her, Bumblebee hated to be talked down to because of how young he was.

" _If you think this hurts, you have no idea what pain is. Arcee endured far worse before I decapitated Tailgate_."

Something clicked in Bumblebee's head and he smashed it against her face. With her disoriented and in pain, he pushed her off of his and began blasting at her as best he could, but she kept jumping back and avoided the all of them. She shot a line of web at his blasters and yanked him forward by his bound weapons. As he came towards her, she jumped over him and lunged at his back, bringing him down. One claw went into his shoulder, digging painfully deep, and the other around his neck, threatening to severe an energon line.

"Now I've got you, _Bumblebee_." She said, adding a mocking emphasis on his name.

Bulkhead landed right at the ramp of the aircraft, sporting a few slash wounds from Dreadwing. He weakly opened his optics and saw Sheva and Piers worryingly looking at him. Realizing that he was too close for their safety, he struggled to push himself up.

"Easy, Bulkhead." Sheva said.

"I'll be fine, Shev. I've got him on the ropes." He answered back.

Piers looked over and saw Dreadwing coming closer. He quickly raised his grenade launcher, stopping the Decepticon in his tracks. Dreadwing, however, scowled at the young sniper with visible animosity, as if daring him to fire one of his nitrogen rounds. Piers knew that a straight shot could be dodged easily by how quickly Dreadwing could move. Before he knew it, Bulkhead stood back up with the Forge and faced Dreadwing.

"Fall back. I got this." He said with a sudden boost of confidence.

He walked away from the aircraft, leaving Piers to wonder what he had up his sleeve. That's when he noticed that Sheva was no longer standing beside him.

Bumblebee was still pinned down, Airachnid's claw still in his shoulder. She hadn't cut his throat yet, making him worry.

" _Scout_?" She asked.

 **"What?"** He replied with hostility.

"Tell me, did my Jack make it out of that little town Megatron obliterated?"

" **He is** _ **not**_ **your Jack!"**

"Well, not yet."

" **Frag you, glitch!** "

Airachnid sunk her claws deeper, causing another painful sound from Bumblebee.

"As I was saying, is Jack still alive?"

Bumblebee had shut his optics tightly, but he nodded his helm. Airachnid smiled and removed her other claw from his throat.

"You can relax, Bumblebee. I don't want to offline you. Well, I _do_ , but I won't. I need you alive."

Bumblebee opened his optics and glanced at Airachnid as best he could, amusing her with his confusion.

"I want you to deliver a message to Jack. Tell him that I'm still going to keep my promise to find Wesker and make him bleed for all the pain he put him through."

Hearing her feign concern for Jack's safety made Bumblebee mad, but he was at Airachnid's mercy and had no choice but to listen to her.

"Let him know that I haven't forgotten him. Once I've dealt with that nasty little human, I _will_ come for him. And after I settle the score with Arcee, he _will_ be mine."

Arcee wasn't kidding when she said that Airachnid had become obsessed with Jack. The way she spoke if him in such a seductive tone was really creeping Bumblebee out. Airachnid kept him pinned, but turned her attention the the other battles around her.

Bulkhead was still on the offensive, just able to keep from being cut in half. Had Dreadwing's big sword been smaller, he might've been able to get a clean shot at Bulkhead's frame. But the Wrecker was losing his step and feeling exhausted, while Dreadwing was still in pique form, despite the frost damage to his wing. He raised his sword overhead, ready to come down on Bulkhead. When the Wrecker lifted the Forge to block it, Dreadwing planted his pede dead center of his chassis, knocking the figurative wind out of him. Bulkhead seemed concerned with his chassis, but as he managed to stand up straight, Dreadwing was coming back at him. He brought his sword down, which was blocked by the Forge. Bulkhead received a slug to the helm with Dreadwing's free servo. He stumbled to the side a bit, his legs nearly tripping him over. Dreadwing was approaching him, so Bulkhead started swinging the gold hammer hammer as hard as he could. To keep some distance between them, so he could regain his bearings, Bulkhead swung with one hand, holding it at the very edge of the handle. This turned out to be a bad move. Bulkhead tried to drive the hammer head at Dreadwing, still using one hand. The Decepticon, move out of the way, grabbing the other side of the handle and pulling Bulkhead closer to him. Once he was within cutting range, Dreadwing slashed at Bulkhead, damaging his shoulder and causing him to let go of the Forge. Dreadwing tossed it aside and went back to fighting Bulkhead, who was face down and trying to push himself back up. His arm was hurt badly and he couldn't keep fighting. Dreadwing kicked him over on his back and stood over him, sword in hand.

"As pitiful a battle this was, you fought honorably, which is more than I can say from the other Wrecker's I've struck down." Dreadwing said.

Bulkhead glared up at Dreadwing as he held his sword over his head with the blade facing downward. He was going to run drive it through his spark chamber.

"You might've made a decent Decepticon...Anything to say before I send you to Primus?"

Bulkhead grimaced as he really began feeling the pain in his shoulder. It made speaking more difficult than it had to be.

"Do it...Sheva."

The look of confusion from Dreadwing lasted only a moment as a compartment on Bulkhead's chassis opened up. Sheva rose from the compartment, armed with her grenade launcher, and aiming right at Dreadwing's spark chamber. She fired one round which hit the center, freezing the alloy of Dreadwing's frame. The 'Con stumbled back some, but kept his footing. Three more rounds changed that as the cold spread from his chassis, to his shoulders and neck, reaching his arm and just under his face. The center of his chassis was beginning to look weak.

As Dreadwing struggled to stand, Bulkhead managed to stand himself. His damaged arm hung from the side, so he shifted his wrecking ball from his good arm. Dreadwing had no chance to try and dodge. Bulkhead brought his arm back and drove his wrecking ball right into Dreadwing's spark chamber, shattering the ice that bit away at it and denting the allow enough that the center was punctured. The Decepticon flew backwards and landed hard, locked in stasis and unable to fight. Bulkhead fell to one knee, spent and in pain. Sheva let herself drop from his center compartment, somewhere she'd seen Miko climb into more than once, and land on the ground. She seemed to have trouble standing for a moment, shaking her head.

"You...okay...Shev?" He asked between pauses.

"Just a bit woozy. Hit my head a few times in there."

"Sorry."

Sheva looked up and saw how bad his shoulder had been cut and immediately became worried.

"Bulkhead..."

Before she could say anything else, Bulkhead shifted his blaster and aimed at something behind Sheva. She looked back and saw an aerial drone, doing to same to Bulkhead.

"Go'head and try, 'Con. I still got one good arm."

The Decepticon didn't do anything, but he stood his ground. Two more were lifting Dreadwing up and moving him. It seemed that they weren't willing to try their luck with the duo that took one of Megatron's best down. The Decepticon drone glanced at something to the side of Bulkhead and he saw that it was the Forge.

"Don't even think about it. The Forge is ours."

Dreadwing was moved out of harms way and the three drones cautiously left. Sheva walked up to Bulkhead, who lowered his arm in exhaustion.

"I think you're done, big guy."

"Yeah...I think so, too."

The two made their way back to the aircraft's with Piers where Bulkhead would continue to guard the Forge.

Soundwave was either swiping away or dodging Wheeljack's swords with frightening ease. One had to wonder if he was a better fighter than Megatron. Wheeljack charged at him with both swords, but he didn't budge. He slashed them directly at his helm, but Soundwave blocked them both with his arms. Wheeljack looked stunned for a second, before Soundwave's pede sent him flying back on his aft. He got up and stared at the 'Con angrily. He charged again, slashing his swords once more. Soundwave blocked all of them effortlessly. He then caught both Wheeljack's arms at the wrist when he tried to take another swipe at his helm. Soundwave threw Wheeljack's arms away and slammed both his own servos against the sides of his opponents helm. Wheeljack was stunned just long enough for Soundwave to jab his face and send him flying again. As the Wrecker stood back up, he realized that he was outclassed. He looked around, hoping to find some assistance from his allies, but his fellow Wrecker was taking a beating from Dreadwing (All of these fights are happening at the same time), the scout was being worked over by Airachnid, and Optimus was clashing with Megatron. Wheeljack was on his own. When he put his focus back on the enemy in front of him, said enemy was _right_ in front of him.

Wheeljack couldn't even react before Soundwave's right servo clamped on the space between his shoulder and neck, digging those long, needle-like digits into his metal. He growled in pain as Wheeljack forced him down on one knee. He dropped his left sword from his servo, unable to hold it. Desperately, Wheeljack attempted to catch Soundwave's visor with his other sword. The Spymaster saw the attack coming and caught him by the forearm, digging his digits into that arm as well, forcing Wheeljack to drop the sword. The pain was almost too much for Wheeljack. He didn't even notice something climbing up his back.

Suddenly, that something appeared in his peripheral. Before he could get a proper look, Soundwave's visor exploded in a cloud of cold smoke, causing him to let go of Wheeljack. The stunned Spymaster stumbled away. His visor protected his face, but he couldn't see. When Wheeljack looked to his shoulder, he saw Chris holding himself over it with one arm and holding his grenade launcher in the other.

"Chris?" He asked in shocked.

"Hold steady, Wheels." Chris replied as he took a stance upon Wheeljack's shoulder.

Chris took aim at Soundwave, who was desperately trying to wipe the nitrogen off his visor, damaging his servos in the process. Laserbeak detached from his chassis and set its sights on Chris and Wheeljack.

"Get down, Chris!" He yelled.

Chris dropped to the ground, allowing Wheeljack to stand up, grabbing one of his swords as he did. He tried to cut Laserbeak down, but the Mini-Con banked flew under the blade and went past Wheeljack. But Chris was waiting with another nitrogen round. Laserbeak was hit almost at the center of its belly, causing it to head for the ground. Before it could crash, Wheeljack spun around with his sword and threw it at the Mini-Con. The blade impaled it all the way through, dropping it like a stone. The lights at the top began to dim and then went out completely.

But before Wheeljack and Chris could enjoy their small victory, the latter was tackled to the ground by Soundwave. He had somehow managed to clear his visor of harmful nitrogen and could see again. Unfortunately, the first thing he was able to see was the death of his faithful companion. Soundwave went to grab Wheeljack's face, but his servos were stopped by the Wrecker's own. He was struggling, though, to keep Soundwave was grabbing hold of him. Chris had one round left and he knew how to make it count. He took his position and aimed for his face once more. Soundwave looked over to see Chris ready to shoot him, but it was too late. Once again, he was struck with a nitrogen round, leaving him temporarily without sight. Wheeljack didn't let Chris' efforts go to waste. He headbutted Soundwave hard enough to crack his visor and allow Wheeljack to push him off. Once he was back on his pedes, he rushed Soundwave, delivering a solid punch in his frozen face. His visor was shattered and he flew back and landed hard, seemingly in stasis. Wheeljack settled down, realizing that he had won.

"You got'em, Wheeljack." Chris said, walking up to the Wrecker.

"Couldn't have done it without ya, Chris."

Megatron was vicious this time around. Optimus had a feeling what the reason was. He had lost his chance to defeat them in Jasper, outsmarted by a human who escaped his grasp, and now it had happened a second time. Each slash from his blade was unfocused and struck with rage. Every time Optimus blocked it with his own or was parried by Megatron, he could see the slight grimace of pain that went ignored. Coming from across his shoulder, Megatron slashed at Optimus and locked blades with him again. No words were spoken. Instead, Megatron took his fist and bashed it against Optimus' helm. The impact was enough to knock him on the floor, leaving him with his vision distorted. Wasting no time, Megatron roughly kicked him onto his back and went to impale him while he was on the ground. Optimus threw his servos up and caught the blade with his servos. But as Megatron tried to push the blade further, cutting deeper into Optimus' digits, the Prime struggled to keep it from running him through. Megatron's optics were burning with rage. Never had he been so close to ending his mortal enemy's life. But Optimus had two very important people waiting for him back home and they would be crushed if he let himself fall here.

Optimus drew the blade from one of his arms and dug it into the elbow joint of Megatron's sword arm.

"Argh!" Megatron growled.

Optimus twisted the blade, further severing the arm. With it now weakened, he pushed it away from his frame and jerked it to the side, removing it entirely. Megatron howled in agony as Optimus rose to his pedes. As he did, he took Megatron's arm with the sword still drawn and drove right through the owner's chassis. Had his vision been at 100 percent, he wouldn't made sure it went into his spark. But it was enough to drive the warlord back. Megatron fell on one knee, clutching what was left of his arm. The bottom half of it was still stuck through his frame. He looked back at Optimus Prime who stood tall and proud, ready for his next attack. Megatron bore his razor sharp teeth, growling in anger. How he wanted to tear the Prime apart, but this battle was lost.

"Decepticons, retreat!" He yelled.

A ground bridge opened behind them and Megatron spared one more hateful look at Optimus before running through. Two Vehicons carrying Dreadwing followed behind him. Soundwave had managed to get back up and see the portal that had formed. He took a look at his opponent. The light from the tunnel cast a dark shadow over his face, making it impossible to see from where Wheeljack was standing. But he could see the red optics glowing through, seething anger at what he and Chris had done to Laserbeak. The Decepticon backed away slowly for a few steps, before running through as well.

As the Vehicons began retreating, Airachnid, who still had Bumblebee at her mercy, pulled something from her subspace.

"When you see Jack, be sure to give him this."

She dropped something incredibly small in front of Bumblebee that he couldn't see in his position.

"And when you do, tell him that when he's mine, I'll make sure that he gets a proper replacement."

Bumblebee looked over his shoulder to see her smirking as if the Decepticons had won. She released her grip and hopped off of him, becoming bipedal as she did. He stood up slowly, holding his stinging shoulder. He held his gaze of anger at her.

" _If you let him die, I'll come for you, scout. Protect my Jack for me_."

The little wink she gave him made him wish that Arcee was there to cleave her helm off. She was treating Jack the same way Wesker did, like an object to be claimed. To her, he was a trophy or a some pet. To Wesker, Jack was a weapon. Bumblebee had plenty of fight left in him, but not against Airachnid. Only Arcee and Optimus stood a chance against her, so he let her go. As she arrogantly sauntered through the ground bridge after the others, Bumblebee relaxed his guard. He looked down and scanned the area for where Airachnid had dropped the tiny object. He managed to located it, though picking it up with his servos without breaking it was hard to do. When he finally managed to pinch it between two of his digits and let it fall in the palm of his other servo, he enhanced his vision to get a closer look at it.

Optimus watched as the Decepticons retreated through their ground bridge. For now, the battle was over. But Megatron could just as easily return at any moment with more troops. His pride was the only thing that Optimus trusted to keep him at bay. The Autobots and the B.S.A.A. needed to leave the area and quickly. But first, he needed to make sure that no one was hurt.

His own men had suffered injuries, but the Forge of Solus was safe, meaning that nothing short of death couldn't be undone. He looked down to his human friends, who all smiled triumphantly at him. The leading trio of the three stood beneath him.

"Are any of you hurt?" He asked.

"We're all alright, Optimus." Sheva answered.

"I am glad, Agent Alomar. Thank you all for your assistance. Had you not been here today, I fear we would not have survived this encounter."

"We're a team, Optimus." Chris said. "We've all got each others backs."

"For that, I am grateful, Chris. But we cannot stay here. Megatron will not take this defeat lightly. I cannot be certain that he will control his rage after losing this battle."

Chris addressed his men.

"You heard the Prime. Let's move out, ladies."

The humans boarded the aircraft's while Bulkhead walked up to hand Optimus the Forge. While he and Wheeljack transformed and drove into the smaller aircraft, Optimus examined it. He looked closely under the hammer, as if searching for something. He found it, the beacon that allowed the Decepticons to intercept the Forge. He ripped it off from under the hammer head and crushed it easily. He would not make the same mistake twice by letting the enemy track them to their base. He carefully placed the artifact into the larger aircraft, which was chosen for the purpose of transporting it. He looked over to Bumblebee, who was staring at something in his servo with wide optics. Optimus walked up to him.

"Bumblebee." He called.

His young scout jumped suddenly, startled for some reason.

"We must go."

 **"Yes, Optimus."**

Optimus knew that something was wrong, but decided to let it be for now. Getting as far away from here as possible was the main priority. The Prime and Scout transformed into their vehicle forms and entered the aircraft. Both ascended and began flying back to the States. As Bumblebee was strapped down and settled in for the long flight, he began to power down. Sitting in the cup holder by the driver's seat was what Airachnid had given him. It was Jack's eye, still preserved in a liquid solution.

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He had Knockout patch his arm as best he could and he still lost. Dreadwing, who had come to Earth days earlier to avenge Skyquake's demise, was with him and he still lost. He even called upon Soundwave, who was the only mech besides Optimus who was as skilled a fighter as he, into battle with him and he still lost. The Autobots were weakened from their last battle and they still lost to them. He had lost an arm, Dreadwing was injured badly, the humans had a weapon that could actually harm them. On top of all that, they had the Forge of Solus. His advantage over the Autobots had been lost.

The poor drone that stood closest to Megatron became the poor drone impaled by Megatron's claw. The warlord held his spark in his servo while the drone's frame hung lifeless on his arm. Megatron crushed his spark, pulled his arm, and let the drone drop to the floor before angrily tossing the spark against the well. Every drone, along with Knockout, Breakdown, and even Airachnid, backed away and gave the seething Megatron his space.

"I will be in my quarters. No one is to disturb me."

With that, he left the brig and disappeared down the dark corridors of the Nemesis. A wave of relief washed over the room as the threat to anymore of them was gone...for now. As two of the drone's dragged the offlined Vehicon's frame away, Knockout noticed a satisfied look on Airachnid.

"What are _you_ so happy about?" He asked

" _Oh nothing, Knockout. Just thinking of someone special_." She sweetly cooed, her sadism hidden well.

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Russell stood patiently as he waited for Wesker to exit the aircraft he had landed in. The loyal right hand was glad to see that his Captain had returned unharmed, though he was unsure what that meant in the long run regarding Umbrella. Wesker got out and walked up to Russell.

"Captain?"

"Any news on our alien friends?"

"I'm afraid not, Sir."

Much to Russell's relief, Wesker didn't seem disappointed.

"I figured that would be the case...What about our leak?"

Russell smiled at Wesker, eager to please his Captain.

"Right this way, Sir." He said as he led Wesker to the rat he had found.

As they walked the halls of the facility, Russell noticed the very content demeanor of Wesker.

"Sir, what is the situation regarding Umbrella?"

"Umbrella is mine."

"Sir?"

A smirk formed on Wesker's face.

"Oswell Spencer is dead. I am Umbrella now. Everything that was once his is now mine, that includes Simmons."

That surprised Russell to hear. Wesker sparing the man who had been nothing but a hindrance to the Captain was highly out of character. But Wesker never did anything without reason.

"Can we trust him, Sir?"

"I trust his fear. He knows that he cannot stop me, with or without his puppets in Washington. I would much rather kill him, but I require the use of those puppets. He will help us to find Jackson Darby."

Russell couldn't imagine how Simmons could possibly find Jackson Darby or the Autobots who were protecting him, but he dared not question his Captain.

"I spoke with him earlier. He is on the trail of someone who may know how to find these Autobots. Once we do, along with the boy, I will have no further use for him...I look forward to getting rid of him."

"I assure you that you aren't the only one, Sir."

Russell led Wesker to a sealed room. He used his key card to open the door where he presented him with Spencer's informant. He was beaten beyond recognition, burned and cut in more than one place on his body. He was weak and in pain. Wesker walked up to the glass wall that separated him and Russell from this man. Blood dripped from his mouth, his teeth having been pulled out.

"So you were the one who's been feeding intel to the old man, Agent Spence." Wesker began.

Spence tried to reply, but was too weak to do little more than groan.

"Seven years ago, you had exposed Agent Alice and Lisa Addison in conspiring to reveal Umbrella's work to the public. I had considered you an asset to Umbrella for your loyalty. But that's when Spencer got his hooks in you, wasn't it?"

Again, Spence was too weak to talk.

"I suppose you thought that you were being loyal, making sure that the old man knew of what we were doing. I cannot fault you for that. But Spencer was halfway in the grave. Only a fool would follow a corpse into his own tomb. You picked the wrong side, Agent Spence, and for that I _can_ fault you."

Wesker looked up at the camera that monitored the room, nodding to the man watching from surveillance. An electronically sealed door was unlocked and slid open. Spence slowly, and shakily, looked over to see what Wesker had unleashed. Suddenly, three Cerberus canines stormed the room and wasted no time tearing him to pieces. He cried in agony as they bit into his flesh, tearing him limb from limb, reducing him to a hunk of bloody meat. Wesker and Russell stood unflinching as this happened. Had he been in a less pleasant mood, Spence would have been test subject to one of a hundred other experimental virus strains. But since he was now in charge of Umbrella and close to finding Jackson Darby, he was feeling generous. Generous enough to let a man be mauled to death by mutated dogs instead, anyway.

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After a long flight that extended into the next day, the party had returned. They were greeted by their allies, humans an Autobot alike. Ratchet walked up to Optimus, pleased to see what he was carrying.

"Thank, Primus. You have it." He said said of the Forge of Solus.

"Ratchet, I require a basic schematic of a functioning space bridge."

"A space bridge, Optimus?"

"I recall you once saying that it was our sole chance of ever returning to Cybertron. If we are fortunate enough to see its regeneration, we will need the space bridge to go home. For now, it will suffice as our ground bridge."

A small, cautious smile appeared of the old medic's face. He was hesitant to hope that he would see Cybertron again in his lifetime.

"I'll get right on that, Optimus...Except..."

"What is it, old friend?"

"I've passed on all of my research on the T-Vaccine over to the B.S.A.A.'s chief scientists so that I can work on Jack's optic."

Optimus knew that Ratchet really wanted to replace Jackson's eye in the hopes that it would lift his spirits. Optimus wanted that just as much. But even though his eye socket was continuing to heal and would eventually heal over, having a functional ground bridge was the priority.

"All I need is the schematics, Ratchet, and then I will use the Forge to take care of the rest. The sooner I have it, the sooner you can return to helping Jackson."

"Very well, Sir."

Ratchet went back to his work station to begin his new project. Optimus decided to go check on Jack and see if he had gotten any better.

"Optimus." A voice called for him from below.

He looked down, surprised to see June on her feet instead of a wheelchair.

"June." He said in surprise.

Even though she still looked weak, both in form and spirit, she smiled up at Optimus. He couldn't help but wonder is she had been waiting for him.

"I'm glad you're back. I was worried that without the ground bridge..."

"I am fine, June, though I do appreciate your concern."

Not wanting June to strain herself by being on her feet for too long, Optimus knelt down and held his servo out to her. June happily stepped on and just as always, was brought to his upper chassis. June rested herself against Optimus' spark chamber. The humming sound never failed to soothe her. The two of them left the area, leaving Ratchet to his work and everyone to wind down.

As they left, Bumblebee took another look at the eye that Jack lost, unsure of what to do with it. His first thought was to give it to its rightful owner, but he felt that it would do more harm than good. The same would happen if he gave it to June, Arcee, or Jill. Bumblebee decided that when Ratchet wasn't too busy, he would ask him for his advice. Normally, he'd ask Optimus. But when it came to Jack and what Wesker had done to him, Optimus would always go to a dark place. Bumblebee wanted to avoid that. Instead, he looked for his little buddy, Raf. He was the only one who could make him forget about what Airachnid had said to him.

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Optimus and June had gone to Jackson's room to check on him, expecting him to be in bed as he often was. To Optimus surprise, he was not there, neither was Arcee.

"They must be taking another walk." June said.

"A walk?" Optimus questioned.

June smiled slightly.

"The two of them have been going around the base lately. I guess because they can't leave here to go for a ride together, it's the best they can do."

"I see."

Jack leaving the hangar was a step forward from hiding away in his quarters, Optimus realized.

"How is Jackson?" He cautiously asked.

June neither smiled or frowned, unsure of the answer.

"I can't say, Optimus. I talked to Jill. She says that he's eating a little more and he's leaving his room more often. These walks that he and Arcee take are good for him. But...he's still distant from everyone. He doesn't say much, to me, to Jill. He hasn't spent any time with Miko or Rafael."

Optimus wasn't sure what to make of this small progress or lack there of.

"I'm glad that he's at least getting out for a little while. It isn't healthy for him to be inside all day. I need to thank Arcee for that. Again, she's done more for Jack than I ever could."

June's previous mood was lowered now. She rested her back against Optimus, staring down at her son's empty bed. Optimus shared her feelings. Neither of them had much luck with helping Jack.

"Optimus." Optimus looked down to see June with her head titled all the way up. "I know that look. You're thinking that you've failed Jack."

How June had managed to become the only person capable of reading Optimus was a mystery to him, but she was right. Despite his attempts to talk to Jack, he was meant only with silence.

"Please, don't. Don't do that to yourself. You've done all you can." She said.

"I...I am not so certain, June."

June began to look sad for Optimus.

"I am. I know exactly what you're feeling...I've felt it for six years."

June looked back down to Jack's bed.

"It hurts when someone you love is in so much pain and there's nothing you can do for them. You try your best to get them through it...but then you keep hitting the wall and when you see how little you've done...you feel so worthless."

Everything June had just said was truer than Optimus wished it had been, but he did feel like less than a Prime or a leader because of his inability to be there for Jackson.

"Optimus, do you think I'm a bad mother?"

The mere question made Optimus a little angry at June.

"Of course not. How could you possibly think that?"

"Because...Since we've been here, since he told us about his father...I haven't talked to him."

"None of us have, June."

Optimus couldn't see her face, but the way she kept her head low, he knew that she felt ashamed about something.

"But...I haven't even tried. Ever since that day, I haven't been able to see him, to look him in the eye. I wait until he's asleep, so he can't look at me like a lost little boy, scared out of his mind. The only time I've been able to say anything to him, he can't hear me. I'm afraid to see him while he's awake, because there's nothing I can say. What _can_ I say? After what he saw...how can I comfort him? So...I've been avoiding him. I'm avoiding my own son. What kind of mother is that?"

"Stop, June." Optimus said a little sternly. "You are in no way, shape, or form, a bad mother. You are injured and emotionally suffering. Even if you aren't able to speak to Jack because of your own doubts, the mere act of watching over him while he rests, despite your injuries, speaks just as loudly. Being unable to help him is not the same as abandoning him."

Optimus didn't see June's knowing smile.

"I know that, Optimus."

She looked back up to see his confused expression.

"While you were gone, me a Jill had a little talk that was an awful lot like this one. She pretty much told me the same thing you just did."

"I...don't understand."

"You're right. Everything you said is one hundred percent correct. Right now, Arcee is the one beside him. When the time comes, I'll be there too. But still, thank you for telling me. Hearing it from you, well, it's hard to object anything you say."

June stood up facing Optimus, placing her hand against his chassis.

"But if you really believe what you've told me, then you can't possibly think you've failed."

Optimus was shocked when he realized what June had done. She had tricked him.

"We're both feeling the same thing, powerless, unable to do anything for someone we both hold dear to us. And if I'm not a bad mother, then you haven't failed my son. Optimus, Jack loves you. I know he does...and he still needs us both. I can't do it alone. I can't reach him the way you can. I could never lift him the way you did when you gave him that key. I don't know how, but we can reach him. Please, Optimus...stop doubting yourself. Jack thinks that everything that's happened is his fault. If he see's you thinking so little of yourself, he'll start thinking the same of himself."

June put her head against Optimus, feeling the warmth from his frame.

"I don't doubt you at all and neither does Jack."

It must run in the family, Optimus thought, this ability say things that can touch his spark. For some odd reason, the Prime didn't want to let June go. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Yes, Adam. I've already spoken to my guy and he says they're waiting for the word to move out." Leon said into his phone. "I can give the order to have them fly out and arrive here in a few hours, but Ratchet tells me that he has a better method of transport. He wants me to wait. Whatever the case is, I have Director O'Brian's permission to bring them here...Yes, my best guys, just like you said. Thank you, Sir. Don't worry, I've got someone on it."

Leon was about to hang up before he remembered something.

"Adam, what exactly is a ground bridge?" He asked.

Helena, who was standing right next to him, took notice of his confused expression. Leon hung up shortly after.

"What'd he say?" Helena asked.

"He said 'I'm in for sight' and then he hung up."

Leon's phone rang again and he checked the caller ID. It was from a blocked number, which left him confused. Then he realized who it was.

"I need to take this, uh, personal call."

"Is it another one of your girlfriends?" Helena said.

Leon sighed.

"Something like that."

Leon took his leave to somewhere private, finding an empty room not far into the hallway. When he was sure that no one was listening, he took the call.

"Ada." He said.

 _"If I had gone to your voicemail, I would've hunted you down."_

"Ada, do you have the information I asked for?"

 _"What, no small talk? Not even gonna romance me a little?"_

"Ada...please."

Ada huffed a little on the other end.

 _"Just do you know, I took an extremely big risk to get this intel."_

Leon was relieved to know that Ada had come through for him. He wasn't relieved for her safety since he never doubted it for a second. She was untouchable as far as he was concerned.

"I appreciate you doing this. I know what I asked you to do and you didn't have to take the job. Thank you, Ada."

 _"There's still the matter of my payment."_

"Right...Send me all the information I need to get the money to you. You'll have it in an hour."

 _"That's not what I meant, Leon. You promised me one night."_

Leon's heart skipped a beat at the thought of being with Ada, even for a short time.

"I did promise that, didn't I?"

 _"So...When am I going to see you?"_

She said it in the sultry tone that Leon had come to know from her. It was alluring, yet threatening at the same time.

"Ada, I need to finish this mission...But when I do, I'll let you know."

The pause of the other end was a sign of Ada's disapproval. But then, she knew that he was on a mission and knew well enough that he wouldn't abandon it.

 _"Leon...You had better keep your promise. Do not leave me waiting for you."_

That worry in her voice was a rare instance of vulnerability that she would only let Leon see or in this case, hear. She wasn't demanding that he keep his promise, she was demanding that he doesn't die.

"I won't, Ada...I look forward to our date."

 _"I'll be waiting, handsome, in my sexiest lingerie. See you then."_

Ada hung up on her end. A second later, he received a text with the location of Spencer's hideout. Once this ground bridge was up and running, they could move on Umbrella's founder and possibly, find some way to expose Simmons. If they succeed, it'd be a powerful blow against Umbrella and Albert Wesker would be on his own.

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Agent Fowler was being updated by President Benford in his office.

"So, the 'Bots are gonna have another ground bridge at their disposal. How did they pull that off?" He asked.

"Something called the 'Forge of Solus', some kind of magical hammer that can only be used by a Prime. Optimus managed to steal it from the Decepticons."

"He's gonna make a new ground bridge with just a hammer?" Fowler asked, incredulously.

"Ever see that movie 'Wreck-It Ralph'? Took my niece to go see it."

"I've seen it."

"You remember that 'Fix-It Felix' guy, right? That's basically what the Forge does."

"Huh..." Fowler said, unsure of what to think."

"The point is, William, with a working ground bridge, the Autobots are more or less back in the game, which means, they're back on the hunt. Leon and Helena are backing them up any way they can and you've already given them the best possible intel they could get. From here on out, I want you fall back until this whole thing is finished."

"Mr. President?"

"You've stuck your neck out far enough for us. There's no reason for you to continue put yourself in harms way."

"If course there is, Mr. President, I'm a government agent. My job is to put my ass on the line for my country and her people."

"You've done enough, William. Now it's up to D.S.O, the B.S.A.A., and the Autobots. You've earned yourself some downtime."

"Sir, all do respect, but the Autobots are more than just aliens that I'm babysitting. Those guys are my friends. And the kids, Jackson...I gotta look out for them."

"They're with the Autobots, the safest place they could ever be."

"You're right, Adam, but I can't just walk away from this. Please, Sir, let me work with the 'Bots from their new base. If anything goes wrong, I'll do everything I can to keep Jack, his mother, Miko and Rafael safe."

President Benford seemed to find some amusement in this.

"You care for this kids, don't you, William?"

"Absolutely, Sir."

"You should have one."

"Unfortunately, I'd have to get another wife."

President Benford had a good laugh about that.

"Marriage and parenthood, only things harder than running a country." He said. "William, I consider you a friend."

"As do I, Adam."

"That's why I _strongly_ advise that you take my offer. But if you really want to stay on this so you can protect those kids, well, all I can say is...watch yourself, old friend. As the President, it's my right to die before the people under my command. Stay alive, William. That's an order."

"Yes, Sir."

William left Benford's office, intending to call Ratchet to tell him that he plans to stay with them at the base. As he reached the end of the hallway, he nearly walked into someone else.

"William Fowler, just the man I wanted to see."

Fowler didn't recognize the voice, but when he got a good look at the speaker's face, his heart froze in his chest.

"It's not everyday I meet a hero."

He held out his hand, expecting Fowler's in return.

"Derek Simmons, honored to meet you.

Fowler reluctantly took his hand.

"Likewise."

He knew, when he started his career in government, Fowler knew that a day like this would come when he would have to shake hands with the devil. But he never thought it'd be a devil like this.

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 **I know you're all getting tired of hearing excuses from me about how sorry I am for getting these up so late. I really do try to keep them within a week. But that battle hit me hard with writer's block and I just started school, which left me with less time to work on it. I hate to push back my timeline even further, but it's beginning to look like I won't be able to keep on my one story a week schedule. I can try for one every week and a half, two at the latest. I hate to keep you guys waiting, but this is the best I can manage. I'm really sorry.**  
 **The battle in the beginning was difficult for me because I didn't want to write the humans as loads for the Autobots to carry. I really wanted them to be able to do something to help without straight up being able to take down the Decepticons themselves. I like to think I kept the suspension of belief intact with the electric and nitrogen rounds from the game having an effect of them, the electric rounds being able to stun them while the nitrogen rounds could weaken them just enough for the Autobots to really hurt them. Just to make it clear, there were eleven nitrogen rounds which left Sheva and Piers with four and Chris with three.**  
 **I know it looks like Jack's eye is going to become a Chekhov artifact later in the story, but I don't see it playing much role from here on in. Airachnid just gave it to Bumblebee for the purpose of screwing with Jack.**  
 **The moment (*cough*ShipTease*cough*) between June and Optimus was really meant to just be a filler scene between the Autobots returning and Leon's scene with Ada. Then I decided to have them go into the helplessness that they both feel because of what happened to Jack. Aside from the wham chapter in 26, we haven't had much of either interacting with Jack. The reason for that was I didn't want to bash you guys over the head with the same "Jack breaks down and everyone feels bad for him" moment. I feel like I reached the max amount of that with him and Arcee. So instead, I focused on June explaining why she hasn't really been able to talk to Jack and Optimus coming to terms with what he can and can't do.**  
 **I'm just teasing the OptimusxJune shipping, but I'm really going in on the romance between Leon and Ada. Their conversation was short, but through her flirting and playfulness, we do see that Ada fears for Leon's life. I don't now if or how I'm actually going to write their date at some point. If I do, it'll probably be at the end of the story.**  
 **It turns out that the informant in Wesker's camp is the antagonist from the first Resident Evil movie. I know it may disappoint you that I wrote Alice having been killed before the story. I'm not a big fan of the movies and if I wrote her without her story breaking powers, I'd be leaving out a huge part of her character. Also kind of weird that we're 30 chapters in and this is the first we've seen of the Cerberus'. Just to be clear, none of our heroes know that Spencer is already dead.**  
 **Fowler may be in trouble with Simmons taking such an interest in him. Hopefully, I've left you on the edge of your seats.**  
 **Like I said, I'm sorry for taking so long and that I have to push my schedule back. Please, please be patient with me. I will work really hard to get these out as fast as I can without sacrificing the writing. Also, the new story I uploaded before this chapter, if that story interest you at all, I probably won't be getting to that for a while, even after this one is finished. Like I said, The Sad Man was kind of just a test story to see how you responded to it. I actually don't know where to go with it just yet. Anyway, I'll see most of you next time in A Shard of Glass. Thanks for sticking with me for thirty chapters. That final act is just around the corner guys. I can't wait to get there with all of you...I feel like that's a double entendre.**

 **P.S. - Since I don't have cable or time to look them up on the internet, how are Robots In Disguise and Combiner Wars? I know the first is the sequel to Prime and is going into their third season but I haven't been able to watch it. I also know that Combiner Wars is a darker take on the story with it still taking place on Cybertron. Let me know in the comments.**


	31. Chapter 31

Sometimes, you have to put on a front. You find yourself in a situation you're not happy about, you need to just act like nothing is wrong and you're not sick to your stomach. For Fowler, this was part of his job. Sometimes, the U.S. Government had to play nice with questionable figures and even had to entertain them in the White House. This was a consequence of the job. He's had to shake hands with some bad people because his bosses expected him to, even though he knew that if they weren't who they were, they'd be locked up. But being in the presence of Derek C. Simmons, the man who has been protecting Umbrella since they were exposed, Fowler was being tested beyond his limits. Never before was he forced to politely greet a man connected to the people directly responsible for causing pain to people he cared about. But here he was. Sometimes, Fowler really hated his job. But for the sake of June, Jack, Miko, and Raf, he had to play his position.

"Damn fine work you did, Agent Fowler." the suspiciously friendly Simmons said. "You saved a lot of people in Jasper, Nevada."

That one comment confirmed his suspicions about how connected Simmons was. No one outside the Government is supposed to know that Fowler had cleared the town before Megatron destroyed it. But here he was, talking about it with no fear of repercussion. He definitely had someone, or people, feeding him info. How Fowler wanted to shoot this man, to pistol whip him, drag him in front of the Autobots, let them do whatever they felt to find out where Spencer was hiding, and then leave him at the mercy of Arcee and Jill Valentine. But he couldn't jump the gun. He wouldn't make it out of the White House if he made a move now.

"Just doin' my job, Mr. Simmons." Fowler said. "It's my duty to protect the people."

Simmons walked up to Fowler and placed his hands on Fowler's arms.

"My good man, you're one in ten million. I could name twenty guys here off the top of my head who couldn't make a decision without permission from the bosses. This country needs people who can make the hard choices in the moment, like you did. Those people in Jasper owe you a debt."

Fowler wasn't just uncomfortable, he was sickened. He had to get some distance between himself and this pretender.

"I appreciate that, Mr. Simmons." He said as he tried to get past him.

"You a Bourbon or a Scotch man?"

"Uh...Bourbon, I suppose."

"Glad hear it." Simmons said as he put his arm around Fowler. "Come down to my limo, I owe you a drink."

Fowler was not about to have a drink with this man as if they were friends.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm on the job."

"We're all on the job, Agent Fowler. The job is what makes us drink, isn't it? Besides, a hero like you ain't gonna get axed for having a drink with me. Come on, I insist. Just my way of thanking you for remembering what the job is really about. We'll go a for a quick ride, enjoy the city. What do ya' say?"

Fowler didn't like insistent people when they _weren't_ corrupt tycoons. Of course, being an Umbrella backer didn't help either. But Fowler remembered that he had to protect his cover. If he pushed back too harshly, he would invite suspicion. Once again, he was going to have to pretend to enjoy the company of a man who belonged in prison...or in front of a firing squad. He couldn't decide.

"I do enjoy a good Bourbon." He said. "Just let me make a call before I go. Gotta make sure my boys cover my ass."

"Always pays to have a couple young'ns watching your six. Limo will be out front. Don't take too long, hero."

"Shouldn't be a minute."

Fowler went down another hall and made sure he heard Simmons and his driver walk down the other side. He checked his service weapon to make sure that it was loaded and off safety. He also made sure that he still had his spare bullet in his inner pocket. Although he had no reason to suspect that Simmons was aware of what he was doing, he couldn't take any chances. After finding out that the monster that followed Arcee through the ground bridge used to be a human, he swore he would never let that happen to him. That's what the spare bullet was for. He was _not_ going to end up like Silas. Fowler took the time to work himself up and went down to the lobby to meet Simmons. No doubt, however long this was was going to be, it'd be the longest ride he had ever taken.

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Leon, Chris, Jill, Helena, and Barry all sat around the table of their "war room". Leon had just given them the coordinates he received from Ada.

"How did you get this intel, Leon?" Chris asked.

"I have someone I trust on the outside. He knows all about Umbrella and wants to take them down as much as we do. I didn't ask how he got his hands on the intel."

Chris and the others seemed satisfied with Leon's answer. True, it was a lie. But he trusted Ada. He trusted what she wanted in return. It seemed foolish, but Ada hadn't betrayed him yet.

"So what do we know about this place?" Jill asked.

"It's a secluded spot, far from anywhere there's people." Leon answered. "Spencer seems to like his privacy."

"Alright, but we still need to know what we're getting into." Barry jumped in. "We need to do some recon before we storm this place and look for the old man."

"What are you thinkin', Barry, drones?" Chris asked.

"Chris, we've seen how they guard their facilities." Jill added. "They look for surveillance drones and shoot them out of the sky."

"I got a look at your reports." Helena jumped in. "Is it true you guys shut down three Umbrella sights in one day?"

"With the Autobot's help, yeah." Jill answered.

"Then recon is off the table." Helena followed. "Let's face it, three sites at once and you saved Jackson Darby who's valuable to them, you can bet that they're not messing around anymore. Security's gonna be beefed up. You'll never get close enough to know what you're up against, not without dropping a few bodies. In which case, you'll alert the others and have to go all in anyway."

"Helena's right." Leon said. "I hate to say it, but we may have to go in blind on this."

The B.S.A.A. trio looked at each other, clearly not comfortable with the idea.

"We will have the 'Bots with us." Jill rationalized. "They'll make it easy to get past the living obstacles."

"What about the B.O.W.s?" Leon questioned. "Can they handle those?"

"They can, but they're not invulnerable to them." Jill said. "Hunters and Lickers can be a problem in big numbers. And one Tyrant was able to hold its own against two of them."

"There's never any way to tell what Umbrella's gonna let loose when we storm their sites." Barry followed. "It's a gamble no matter what we do."

"But the Autobots being there will increase our chances of survival." Chris said. "I promise you that."

Leon and Helena were convinced of any doubts, minor as they were, about the Autobots.

"Alright, the next step is getting there." Leon continued.

"Yeah, what is this ground bridge we keep hearing about?" Helena followed.

Barry lowered his head as he laughed quietly to himself. Jill and Chris were trying not to do the same.

"Optimus is working on it right now." Chris said.

"Is that what that big ass hammer was for?" Helena asked.

"Yeah, that's what we went to Russia to get." Chris said in amusement. "When it's finished, we'll be able to get to this place with no problem."

"And if we pull this off, we'll be able to cripple Umbrella." Jill said.

Helena looked to Leon.

"Leon, should we wait for our guys to get here before we do this?" She asked.

Leon took a moment to think. More guys meant more support and that was always necessary in a fight with Umbrella. But Leon knew that the B.S.A.A. wanted to get Spencer quickly and may not be willing to wait the for D.S.O.

"Screw it, let's find this old bastard and put him out of our misery. We'll save our boys for Wesker's last stand. He'll be desperate, so we'll need'em."

"Then it's decided." Jill said. "Once the bridge is up, we go after Spencer."

"Sounds like a plan." Barry said.

"I'll go let the 'Bots know. You two have full access to our armory. Get whatever you need and we'll let you know when we're ready."

"Copy that, Chris." Leon said.

With that, they all went their ways. Leon and Helena left together to send this info back to President Benford. Leon wanted to get this mission done too, for more than one reason. Raccoon City, Jasper, they deserved justice for what happened. Spencer was the founder of Umbrella and with his death, they would have only one leg to stand on, Simmons.

There was also his promise to Ada. Leon wanted to give her that one night she seemed to really want. He wanted to see if there was any hope for them. Maybe without Umbrella, Ada could bring herself to live in same world as Leon without the likes of Simmons and Wesker. But he wouldn't let his desires distract him. He had a job to do and he'd be damned if he didn't do it right.

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True distraction is being unable to enjoy a glass of Bourbon because of the company you're in. Fowler couldn't even enjoy the interior of the luxurious limo he was riding in or the sights of the city he called home. All he could think about was the man sitting across from him, untouchable by any laws of man. The old agent couldn't stand to be in his presence, but he couldn't blow his cover.

"I love this city." Simmons said. "I really do. This is where American democracy begins. This is where the right people can get things done."

'Democracy that you and your kind step on.' Fowler thought angrily.

Knowing what he knew about Simmons, Fowler couldn't remember what it was that made him so trustworthy to the public.

"I meant what I said back in the White House. This country needs more people like you, William."

His trigger finger curled at the sound of this man calling him by his first name like they were friends.

"I don't know what happened in Jasper, but it must've been pretty bad." He said as he sipped his Scotch. "Don't suppose you can tell how it got blown to hell."

"Sorry, Mr. Simmons, but that's classified information."

"Oh, I understand. Still, I gotta wonder what it was that went off that could blow up a whole town. A lot of terrorist organization are all rushing to the front of line, trying to convince the world that they were the ones behind it. Of course, none of them have that kind of weaponry in their arsenal. The guys we know that do wouldn't have anything to gain by taking out such a small town. If it were, they would've hit us where the whole country could feel it, New York, California, Florida. The scariest threat to face is one you cannot see."

'Like Umbrella.' Fowler thought.

"You couldn't be more right, Mr. Simmons."

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that no civilians were harmed and that's all thanks to you."

Simmons held his drink up.

"To Jasper."

Fowler did the same but mentally altered his toast.

"To Jasper, Mr. Simmons." He said. 'And to all of you sons of bitches getting what you have coming to you.' He thought.

Simmons finished off his drink and placed his glass down. His mood changed slightly, as if he had to go back to a job he didn't like.

"Agent Fowler." He began. "I want you to know that I mean it when I call you a hero."

The limo came to a stop in a secluded part of DC.

"I _am_ sorry that this had to happen." He followed.

Before Fowler could even register the threat, a large hand smashed through the window next to him and grabbed him by the shirt. The next thing he knew, he was yanked out of the limo and thrown onto the ground.

"Jesus H. Christ!" He said in shock.

Standing above him, at least eight feet, was something that looked human, but clearly _not_ human. Bald, albino, and wearing some kind of red visor that went over its eyes and over its head, Fowler felt his body go cold as he stared into this...vaguely human thing. It went to grab Fowler again, but he drew his weapon to shoot it. The creature, however, grabbed the end of his gun before he could take aim and crushed it inside of his massive, gloved, hand.

"What are you?" Fowler uttered.

The being responded by taking a firm grip of Fowler's throat, applying pressure and cutting off his air supply. The agent struggled to break free, but couldn't get a grip around the large hand that was choking him. Fowler became lightheaded and soon began fading out of consciousness. Then everything went black.

The being let go of Fowler before he choked him to death and let him fall back on the ground. It stood straight and remained silent, not acknowledging the angry Simmons in the slightest. Russell then walked up to it, examining Fowler unconscious on the floor.

"Very good, Ivan. Grab our guest and we'll head back to base." He said.

Simmons still had something to gripe about.

"Was all that really necessary?" He angrily asked. "This is the second limo I've had to replace because of you people."

Russell signaled Ivan to stop and turned around to look back at Simmons.

"If you feel that strongly about it, Simmons, I can let Captain Wesker know that you demand to be reimbursed for damages."

Simmons knew that Russell was just screwing with him.

"I'm glad you're having fun, Russell, being let out without a leash."

Russell let out a dry laugh.

"Are you calling me a dog, Simmons?" He asked.

"You're surprised? You were always Wesker's little pet. After stealing Umbrella from the old man, I suppose he let you graduate to his attack dog."

"Well Simmons, if I _am_ his attack dog...that would make _you_ his bitch, wouldn't it?"

Russell was pleased to see how that got to Simmons.

"Well, see ya' around, friend." He said as he and Ivan turned to leave.

"Oh, and more thing." He stopped to say. "Captain Wesker wanted me to tell you that whatever you may have planned to get out from under him, throw it away. If you have any ideas of exposing him or us, without exposing yourself somehow, just know that all the military protection in the world isn't going to stop ten Tyrants from knocking down your door. You are to sit and wait for the next phase of his plan. I suggest you think of a way to convince Captain Wesker that you can be of use to him, somehow."

With that, Russell and his Tyrant bodyguard left, the Tyrant carrying Fowler over his shoulder.

"Agent William Fowler." Russell began. "Congratulations, you've just been employed by Umbrella. Welcome to the team, comrade."

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Optimus was still working on the space bridge, not paying much attention to the curious audience of B.S.A.A. agents who seemed interested in what he was doing. Then again, they had never seen anything like what he was building. As the Prime kept hammering away at the unfinished space bridge, Ratchet was still working on Jack's replacement optic. Bumblebee was sitting by Rafael, watching the medic work. He wanted to ask him about Jack's eye, but not in front of Optimus. From what the scout could tell, Ratchet was having some trouble with his project.

"Gah." He said in frustration. "I need a smaller tool than this."

Ratchet left for his supply storage in search for something that Bumblebee didn't know.

 **"I'll be right back, buddy."** He said to Raf.

"Where are you going, 'Bee?" Raf asked.

 **"I just gotta ask Ratchet a question. It'll be quick."**

Bumblebee followed behind Ratchet, but kept his distance until he was sure that they were out of audio range of Optimus. He caught up with him in the the supply room where they had stored their tools and their stockpile of energon.

"What is it, Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked without having to look.

Bumblebee beeped in surprise that Ratchet knew he was there.

 **"How did you know it was me?"** He asked.

"Because you've been watching me closely ever since you returned from your last mission." Ratchet responded. "So, what do you need to ask that's so important?"

Bumblebee was hesitant. Ratchet was as sickened with Umbrella as any of Team Prime. He wasn't sure how he was going to react to what Airachnid had given him.

"Bumblebee." Ratchet called to the silent scout. "I have work to do, so whatever it is you have to tell me, just say it."

The scout walked up to Ratchet, still hesitant about it. He slowly opened his sub-space and retrieved Jack's eye. He handed the tiny jar to Ratchet.

"What is this?" He curiously asked as he examined it closely.

Bumblebee didn't answer him. Ratchet enhanced his vision to get a closer look at it. When he saw what it was, his optics widened in realization.

"Bumblebee..." He said in shock. "Is this..."

Bumblebee nodded his head, looking guilty for some reason.

"Why do you have this?"

 **"Airachnid gave it to me. She wanted to give it to Jack."**

Knowing that Airachnid had it didn't do much for Ratchet's mood.

"How did _she_ get her servos on it?"

 **"I don't know, I didn't ask. She just wanted me to tell Jack that she was still coming for him and she wants me to protect him until she does."**

Ratchet only seemed annoyed by that.

"I swear, of all the crazy femmes I've met..."

Ratchet stopped and looked at Jack's eye, wondering what he should do with it.

"Why give this to me?"

 **"I don't know...I wasn't gonna give it to Jack because I thought it would...ya'know...bring up some bad memories. I was gonna throw it away but I thought that maybe you could use for something."**

"I don't think I have much use for an unusable human eye."

Bumblebee looked disappointed to hear that.

 **"You mean, you can't...You can't put it back?"**

Ratchet sighed, knowing that Bumblebee was hoping for that to be the case.

"I'm afraid not, Bumblebee. The Human body just doesn't work that way. Once a body part is removed, the nerves die shortly after. I'm sorry, but...Jack's eye is useless."

Bumblebee slouched in disappointment. He really wanted to help Jack out. Ratchet examined the eye a second time.

"Although, this may be able to help me with his replacement optic." He said.

Bumblebee looked back up, curiously.

"One of the problems I'm having is estimating the diameter of Jackson's eye to make his optic of matching size. I was beginning to think I would have to measure his remaining eye which would be invasive to say the least. With this, I can just take measurements and copy them onto his prosthetic. Yes, this may actually be very useful."

Bumblebee, while still disappointed that Jack's eye couldn't be returned, was at least happy that it helped Ratchet is some way.

"I hate to say it, but that glitch-spawn actually did us a favor. Good thinking, not getting rid of it, Bumblebee."

The scout rubbed his helm sheepishly.

"However, I would advise not telling Jack or anyone else for that matter. You're right, seeing it could bring up some bad memories. Still, thank you for this. I'll be sure to put it to good use."

 **"No problem, Ratchet."**

Ratchet grabbed the tool he needed and left with Bumblebee.

"Now, if I can only figure out how to solve the illumination factor. I don't think Jack would want his optic glowing 100 percent brighter than his organic one. And then there's the challenge of giving it a human appearance and making his eye color the matching blue of the other."

The pair came back into the main hall where Ratchet went back to work and Bumblebee went back to Raf. He seemed a little better after being here a few days, but Bumblebee knew that he was putting on a front so as not to worry everyone. As the youngest, Raf was the baby of group. If Jack wasn't so messed up right now, everyone would be worrying about him, instead. Rebecca certainly was. She really seemed to grow attached to Bumblebee's little partner. Still, he knew that Rafael was worried about Jack more than anything. Hopefully if and when Jack gets better, Raf would get better too. But they had to stop Umbrella first. None of them would feel safe before that.

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Jack was able to hear Arcee and Jill talking outside of his room. They were speaking in hushed tones, meaning they didn't want him to hear. Normally, Jack would've moved closer to listen to what they were saying, but he decided that it was probably for the best this time around. Jack was still struggling with everything, but he wasn't nearly as bad as he was just a few days ago. Eating and sleeping were still difficult for him and every so often, he was unintentionally remember what his father looked like back in Jasper, which would remind him of Jasper, which would make him depressed. However, Arcee had taught Jack a little trick about dealing with all that was happening. It was the most stupidly simple thing and Jack hadn't even considered it. She told him to, get this...look on the bright side. At first, Jack thought Arcee was just desperate and threw this at the wall to see if it would stick, but then she broke it down for him.

Jasper was gone, yes. His father was gone, or Primus forbid, still alive. These were things Jack was struggling with. But the people of Jasper were unharmed. Sierra, her blonde friend who Jack never learned the name of, his boss, his teachers, even Vince, they were all alive and okay. Miko and Rafael's families were safe, thanks to the B.S.A.A. Even though he couldn't be one hundred percent sure, Kyohei, Togusa, Erika, and Walker were most likely unharmed back in Ikebukuro. But most importantly, his family was okay. His mother, Miko, Rafael, Fowler, Jill, Chris, Rebecca, Arcee, Optimus, and the rest of the Autobots had made it out of Jasper and were still with him.

When Jack took all this into account, it helped a great deal. He held on to this bit of good fortune and used it to keep him from that dark and scary place that his head would go to if he let Umbrella get to him. It may have helped him take the tiniest step forward, but it was also a wall behind him that kept him front stumbling backwards and that was the most difficult thing for him, to stay facing forward and to stay positive.

To keep his mind off Wesker and Umbrella, Jack often thought of the adventures he had with Arcee and the others. It was so strange to him that the very event that made him walk away from the Autobots, getting lost aboard the Nemesis to chase after Miko, was a memory he looked back on fondly. Going up against Soundwave in Texas, burning rubber with Bumblebee against Knockout, breaking into a museum with Raf and Miko, these were all happy memories to Jack. The happiest memory he had was his trip to Tokyo with Arcee. Before their emotional talk, Arcee's attempt to lift Jack's spirit by talking about their trip had only made Jack more afraid. But now, Jack could laugh at every encounter they had that day. He didn't even realize that he was laughing to himself when Arcee walked back in.

"Did I just hear you laugh?" She asked.

Jack looked to her, slightly embarrassed, until he saw that it made her happy.

"I'm thinking about our trip to Tokyo."

"Oh?" Arcee took a seat against the wall, giving Jack her focus. "And what about that 'uneventful' trip was so funny to you?"

"I was just remembering how you challenged that woman on the black bike and we ended up being chased by the cops."

Arcee looked like she wished to forget that little detail of their trip, if only to protect herself from June.

"I would've beaten that black rider if she didn't...ride up the side of that building."

Both became silent when they remembered how weird that day got, starting with the pissed off bartender.

"That _was_ a crazy day, wasn't it, partner?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah...it was." Jack said.

Arcee smiled while looking Jack, seeing that he was getting better, if only a little. The two were quiet but content in the moment, knowing that eventually, the moment would pass. Arcee, however, had something she needed to tell Jack. She wasn't smiling as much as she was just a second ago.

"Jack, listen."

Jack braced himself, telling from the tone of her voice that whatever she was about say was important.

"Leon's tracked down Spencer's hideout."

Jack stood up from his bed, surprised by this information.

"Once Optimus completes the space bridge, he'll want to move quickly."

Jack knew what this meant. Going after Spencer would be a huge blow to Umbrella. With him gone, Jack wouldn't have to worry about them coming after him when they make a anti-virus from his blood. But he also knew that Spencer was going to be well guarded with both soldiers and B.O.W.s. Jack had heard what happened to Arcee and Bulkhead when the Autobots went to rescue him. He also knew that Arcee couldn't stay behind this time.

"Arcee, you have to go with them."

"Yeah, Jack...I intended to."

Arcee understood as Jack did, but he knew what was holding her back.

"I just...Are you gonna be okay while I'm gone?" She asked.

Jack still had nightmares, he still ate very little, and there were times when he would have some very concerning panic attacks. But if there was one thing Arcee didn't have to worry about, it was him taking his own life.

"I'll be alright, Arcee. You don't have to worry about leaving me alone."

But Arcee still looked unsure.

"I believe you, Jack. It's just that...Jill and the others are coming with us and...I'd feel better if I knew there was someone to help you if, you know...you start to panic."

Arcee had been there for Jack since they escaped Jasper. She'd been his shoulder to cry on when his emotions spilled over. Arcee just wanted to make sure he had some kind of support while she was gone. But Jill was going on the mission as well, and unfortunately, Jack hadn't really spoken to his mother since he broke down in front of her that day, not wanting her to see him at his lowest. Jack needed to assure Arcee that he wasn't on his own without her, otherwise, she might sit the mission out again.

"Hey, Arcee?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"How are the others?"

Arcee looked confused, wondering who he meant by that.

"I mean, how are Raf and Miko?"

This was the first time Jack had asked about them, the first time he even thought of them. It was only now that he remembered that they had lost Jasper too and they were also struggling to cope with it. Not only that, but they were most certainly worried about him as well. He knew that Bulkhead and Bumblebee were doing their best to help them, but were probably having as much luck as Arcee did with Jack that first day at the new base. Jack felt a bit ashamed for not considering them until now. He remembered how worried they all looked when they were reunited at the old base, and how Miko cried out for him when he made his father chase after him. They must've been scared this whole time. Jack decided that he could at least take away one worry from them and maybe help them with the rest. After all, he needed to find ways to distract himself from thinking about the past.

"They're...They're not doing all that great." Arcee said.

"Where are they?" He asked.

"They mostly just stay in the main hall. There's not a lot for them to do around here, unfortunately."

"Can I see them?"

Arcee was shocked to hear that Jack was actually going to interact with someone other than her.

"Yeah, of course, Jack. Come on, follow me."

Arcee led the way while Jack followed behind her. As they left his quarters, he looked down the hall where his mother slept. Both of them had been avoiding each other as not to worry the other. Jack knew that his mother couldn't have been in a good place herself. Again, he felt ashamed for not taking into account what everyone else was going through. But he wasn't ready to talk to her just yet.

The pair walked into the hallway, getting almost everyone's attention when they noticed Jack. Ratchet had stopped working, Wheeljack and Bulkhead had stopped conversing, Bumblebee had stopped making adjustments to his wrist blasters, and Rebecca had looked up from her herb mixing. Jack could hear someone banging metal from somewhere below ground level and figured that it was Optimus working on the space bridge. He was thankful for that. He was definitely not ready to face him yet. He still felt unworthy of the Key to Vector Sigma. All eyes and optics fell on him and Jack could feel their concerned looks follow him as he followed Arcee. He knew he still looked pretty bad. But hopefully, being seen with his friends would ease their worry. Miko and Raf were not seen from where he was standing, probably unaware of what was going on. Arcee led Jack to the stairway.

"Up there." She said lowly.

Jack could see she was still worried about him being alone, that's why he asked about Miko and Raf. She waited for him to either turn the other way, or go up the stairs. Jack took the first few steps, but stopped when he was level with Arcee's servo. He reached out and took one of her digits, holding it tightly.

"I'll be fine, Arcee, don't worry." He said while smiling.

Seeing Jack smile again did give Arcee a fair hope that things were getting better, but she waited as he walked up the steps. She started to see why he suddenly wanted to be with Miko and Rafael. Aside from his worry for them, which was another sign of his improvement, he also wanted to ease her mind by being with his friends. Now she knew he wouldn't be alone while she was gone.

Jack walked to the top of the stairs and onto the platform, where Miko and Raf were sitting on another couch. They both saw him and stood up in surprise, apparently not noticing the behavior of the others. Jack saw that they were going through troubles of their own, both looking tired and generally uncertain about everything. Neither took a step forward, nervously waiting for Jack to make the first move. Rafael looked especially worried. He had actually felt how scared Jack was when Ratchet rescued him from his father. On top of everything that they were going through with the loss of Jasper and dealing with B.O.W.s for the first time, they had been worried about Jack along with all of it. They were happy to see him, of course, but were unsure of how to approach him.

"Hey, guys." Jack said nervously. "Sorry I haven't been around lately."

Neither one had changed their expressions.

"Feels like I haven't seen you in weeks."

Again, no reaction but silence. Jack was beginning to feel uncomfortable so he tried to strike up a conversation. He looked around the platform, seeing a common area much like the one they had in Jasper.

"Nice set up you got here, kinda feels like home."

"Jack?"

Miko had stepped forward, looking like she was holding back tears.

"Are you...Are you okay?"

Jack then looked to Rafael, who was eagerly awaiting his answer as well.

"Not really, but I'm getting there. How'bout you?"

The question seemed to offend Miko in some way. She looked back to Raf and then back to Jack.

"No...we're not." She said as if it was obvious, her voice cracking a little.

She walked up to Jack, looking angry at him.

"Jack...we thought you were dead."

Jack felt his chest tighten.

"Miko, I'm...I'm still here." He said, under the belief that she thought the same thing as Arcee.

"You made that thing chase after you. We thought for sure it got you. Me and Raf...we thought we lost you."

Now she was crying, Rafael hiding his face as he did the same.

"Miko."

"And then you run away from us and you don't say anything for days...We were scared this whole time. Raf thought that you lost it and no one wanted to tell us."

Raf now had his back turned and Jack felt like such a terrible person. He lowered his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, guys. I know scared all of you by hiding in my room all this time. I never met to upset you. I was just...I was just trying to get past this whole thing with my Dad."

Miko grabbed Jack and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face into his chest, crying her frustration built up over the last few days.

"We're both really scared, Jack. If you were that scared when we got here, then things are really, really bad."

Jack realized now what being apart had done to their little team. Since he was the leader of the trio, they often looked to him when things got too serious. Seeing him break down the way he did must've really shaken them up and wonder what was going to happen.

"Jack, tell us that you're okay. Tell us that's it's all gonna work out and the Autobots are gonna kick Umbrella's butt and the Decepticons for what they did. Please...just say that it's all gonna be alright."

Jack had never seen Miko so scared or hear her sound so desperate. For whatever reason, she needed him to reassure her of something that was ultimately in the hands of the Autobots. But he hated to see her like this and he never wanted to see Rafael even more upset than the day he woke up. He hugged Miko back tightly as she did to him and looked to their youngest friend.

"C'mere, Raf." He said kindly.

Raf had taken off his glasses to wipe his eyes. He walked over the Miko and Jack, looking up at the latter with puffy and frightened eyes. It was even worse than when Jack thought he was still infected with the T-Virus. Jack couldn't stand to see him like this, so he pulled him closer and held him as well.

"Listen guys, I'm so sorry that I scared you both so badly...I wish that I could tell you that I'm not scared and that I'm over this whole thing with Umbrella, but I can't. I'm still scared of what they might do and I'm still trying to cope with everything else. All I know is that the Autobots, Jill, and the others are doing everything they can to stop them. I know it looks bad right now, us having to be here instead of our homes with our families. But we gotta stay strong for the 'Bots so they don't worry about us and get distracted out there. They've protected us and got us this far and they're about to go after the guy who created Umbrella. They're gonna finish this and we'll all be safe, I promise."

Miko managed to wipe her face without pulling away.

"Do you really believe that, Jack?"

"Of course, I do. I have faith in them. That's the one thing Umbrella can't take from us, our faith in our friends. Optimus isn't gonna let them or Megatron get away with what they've done. They just need to know that we're here to support them. I'm gonna be okay, guys, and I know you will too."

"Jack?" Raf said.

Jack let his friends go and looked at Rafael.

"No more running away, you _or_ Miko. No more sacrificing yourselves and trying to be the hero. We stick together...no matter what happens."

Raf, while still teary eyed, looked firm and decisive on this. Miko understood, considering that she had done the same thing at Omega One.

"We stick together." Jack said before looking to Miko. "Right?"

Miko nodded her head.

"Right."

The three embraced each other once more, The Three Amigos back together. Arcee listened from below with swelling pride.

"There's my Jack." She said to herself.

What Arcee just heard had filled her spark with more hope than anything that's happened in the last few days. For Jack to re-assume his role as the leader of the kids, that was a sign of him coming back from everything he had been through. Ratchet had said, many times, that Jack was like a young Optimus Prime. She saw it, now more than ever. Just as her leader was the strength of the Autobots, Jack was the strength of the humans. Arcee walked away from the platform to look for Jill, no longer worried about leaving Jack alone. He'd be fine as long he had his friends. He needed them as much as they needed him.

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"It is done." Optimus said. "The space bridge is now complete."

Optimus set the Forge against a nearby wall, no longer having a storage place to put it.

"That's good to hear, Optimus." Ratchet said. "Timely, as well. An informant of Agent Kennedy has provided the location of Oswell Spencer."

"Is that so? Then we must move immediately. If we are successful in neutralizing Umbrella's founder, they will be left without proper leadership and will begin to fall apart."

"Everyone's waiting for your orders, Optimus. They're ready to move when you are."

"I will go inform the Autobots. Get word to Agent Valentine and Agent Redfield. We will move as soon as possible."

Optimus was about to search for his subordinates when he noticed that Rafael and Miko were not in their usual place.

"Ratchet, where are the children?" He asked in concerned.

Ratchet couldn't keep from smiling, having heard Jack talk to them earlier.

"The children are fine, Optimus. They're with Jack."

Optimus was shocked to hear that, knowing that Jack had been avoiding everyone, especially the other kids. He wasn't sure what this meant, but was afraid that he might've gotten worse enough that Miko and Raf would need to see him. Ratchet must've sensed this.

"You needn't worry, old friend." Ratchet said. "The three of them are okay."

"Are you sure of this of this, Ratchet."

Ratchet turned back to his work, still smiling.

"I was beginning to fear that they had all been damaged beyond repair. But after what I'd just seen, I believe that the three of them are going to be just fine."

Ratchet turned back to Optimus.

"Still, It'd do them all a world of good for you to speak with them before you head out. They look to you for guidance, Optimus, the same as we do."

Ratchet was right. Having failed to reach Jackson before had discouraged Optimus from speaking with Rafael or Miko. June had been the one he was most focused on. But whatever had happened while he was working on the space bridge was a good sign that they were recovering from the loss of their homes. Perhaps, things were beginning to get better for Team Prime.

Optimus left Ratchet to find his crew. He intended to take Ratchet's advice and talk to Jack, Miko, Rafael before he left. Ratchet went back to work and took the time to examine what he had finished so far. He used is enhanced optics to look at the human sized, artificial iris that would be the main component for Jack to see out of. He carefully attached the end of it to a power source, just to see if it functioned. When he connected the fuses and activated the power supply, the iris lit up a pale, blue color. The illumination factor would have to be taken care of later, but Ratchet looked to servo-held monitor that it was also hooked up to. He could see imperfect vision from the point of view of the iris. It still needed to be tweaked and adjusted, which was difficult because of how small it was, but it was working. At least now, Ratchet knew that a human optic was possible.

"Alright, that's the first step. Now to figure out how to hook it up to Jack's brain."

With that, Ratchet continued his work on the optic.

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Optimus had already informed Arcee and the others of the mission. The fact that she was not with Jack was both a worry and a sign of hope for the Prime, knowing that she trusted him to be left alone. Optimus walked through the corridor where the humans had made their quarters. Miko and Rafael's rooms were empty. Optimus secretly hoped that the pair were somewhere on the base, causing mischief. That would be another sign of them returning to normal. However, he reached Jackson's quarters to find the two of them resting on his bed. Miko was facing the door, embracing Rafael as they slept. The wet lines from her face showed that she had been crying recently. Their reunion with Jack was an emotional one, Optimus figured. Even though he was disappointed to leave them without saying goodbye, he was happy to see them resting more peacefully now. Miko would often hold Rafael close while they slept on the couch, but it seemed to be out of fear more than anything else. Now, she seemed more at ease and it stood to reason that Rafael was the same. The Prime didn't wish to interrupt them, so he let them be for now. He would see them upon his return. Though, he did wonder where Jackson was.

Optimus went to go see the other human that concerned him, June Darby. He intended to always let her know when he would go on another mission, especially one involving Umbrella. He wanted to keep her informed on the progress they made against them. When he stepped into the doorway, he was surprised to see Jackson talking to her as she rested in her wheelchair. June was turned away from the entrance and Jack had not noticed Optimus standing there. From what little he could see, Optimus saw that Jack looked better than the last time he saw him.

"I know you've been worried sick about me, but it's gonna be okay." Optimus heard Jack say.

"Jack...I'm just...I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to talk to you after what happened." June said back to him with guilt that Optimus recognized.

"Mom...All I want is for you to get back on your feet. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm getting through this. I'll be around more, I promise."

Jack took June's hands.

"We'll get through it together, okay?" He said.

June cupped Jack's cheek as tears fell from her eyes.

"Jack."

Jack placed his hand over his mother's.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you more."

Jack kissed his mother on the forehead, noticing Optimus was watching them.

"Mom...There's someone here to see you."

Jack turned his mother's wheelchair to face Optimus.

"Optimus." She said.

"I'll leave you two alone." Jack said as he made his leave.

Optimus watched him go, seeing the difference more clearly. However, he could see his hesitance to look at the Prime. Jack still felt unworthy towards him. Optimus gave his attention to June, who was standing up now. She still struggled a bit, but was clearly getting her strength back.

"Optimus, is everything alright?" She asked in concern.

"Not quite...But they will be." He said with hope. "I came here to tell you that the space bridge has been completed and that we will be taking on another mission."

June looked worried about that.

"So soon, Optimus?"

"This is a mission of great importance. We are going after Oswell E. Spencer."

June face changed to a much more serious look, remembering what she had learned of this man. This was the father of Umbrella, the man behind all of their crimes.

"I see." She said.

Optimus knelt before her to be closer to her level.

"June, you understand what this means."

"I do, Optimus. I remember who Oswell Spencer is."

"Then you also know what will happen if we are successful."

June was hesitant to hope, afraid to be optimistic that Umbrella could be destroyed for good.

"June, look at me."

June raised her head to look Optimus in his optics.

"Umbrella will fall and this is where it will begin. When we...kill...Oswell Spencer, the organization will fall into disarray. This may even cause Umbrella to struggle over leadership, making it difficult to stay organized and carry out their agenda. Wesker will have a much harder time attempting to track you and Jackson down. If we are successful, Umbrella will begin to collapse."

June's worried expression changed to a hopeful one, letting herself believe in Optimus' words.

"All of the pieces are falling into place, June. It is almost over. You just have to wait a little longer. When it is finished, I will do everything to help you and Jackson put all of this behind you and to move forward. I give you my word."

June knew what she felt in her heart and she believed everything Optimus was telling her. He would never betray her the way Joshua had. But even the powerful Prime couldn't keep her from worrying about his safety.

"Optimus...please be careful."

"I will not fall by Umbrella's hands, June. I will return to you and Jackson."

Optimus lifted June up and allowed her to press herself against his spark chamber, the closest they could manage to a hug.

"Be safe, Optimus Prime." She said.

"Stay strong, June Darby."

Optimus lowered June, who smiled at Optimus with such affection that he felt his spark get warmer. The Prime left the room, not noticing Jack standing on the opposite side of the doorway.

"Optimus." He called calmly.

He stopped suddenly when he heard Jack's voice say his name. He turned around and there he was, looking up at Optimus with the same admiration that he had always shown him.

"Jackson. You look well."

"I could be better...I could be worse too." He said awkwardly.

"I am glad to see you interacting with others again."

Jack laughed in embarrassment, averting his look from Optimus.

"Can't hide in my room forever."

Jack and Optimus looked at each other again. They both had much they wanted to say, but neither willing to speak first.

"So...going after Spencer, huh?"

"Indeed, I am, Jackson."

Jack suddenly became serious.

"Optimus...take'em down hard. For Raccoon City, for Jasper, make him pay for everything."

"He will answer for every crime against humanity committed by him and his organization. Justice will be found for both homes that you've lost."

Optimus was about to leave.

"Thank you." Jack said, which stopped him again. "For being there for my Mom...and getting her through this. I wasn't there for her, but you were."

"You needn't thank me, Jackson. I was there for her, but not for you."

Jack smiled, surprising Optimus since he couldn't remember the last time he saw him smile.

"Yes, you were...I just wasn't paying attention. You kept my mother from losing hope. I'll never forget that."

How Optimus wanted to give him back the Key, but he knew he wasn't ready to accept it yet.

"Go on, Optimus, the team's waiting for you. Just remember that we are too. Be careful out there."

"I will, Jackson."

Optimus went back to the main hall, Jack watching him disappear down the corridor. Just like his mother, Jack felt the presence of Optimus Prime watching over him, keeping him safe. He and June were both under his protection...and he wasn't scared anymore. He's felt like this before and pushed the thought away because it seemed childish. But he knew why he felt this way about Optimus. His father hadn't been around for years now and he there was an emptiness in him after he left. But no matter how childish it seemed, Jack still looked up to Optimus Prime. He was his hero, just like Joshua was. There was no point in denying it anymore. Jack definitely saw Optimus a father to him...and he loved him the same way.

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Fowler came to after what felt like being in a coma. He head was in intense pain, but his chest felt like it was on fire. He found it very difficult to breath. He noticed now that he was chained down to a bolted chair in a dark room with no windows. He tried to remember his last whereabouts and then it came back to him.

"Simmons, that piece of shit."

"Right on all accounts, Agent Fowler." A villainous voice was heard.

Fowler looked to the source and saw a blonde man wearing sunglasses and leather coat. Standing behind him was a young, black man who appeared to be his second. Behind them both was the thing he remembered nearly choking the life out of him before everything went black.

"Simmons brought you to us and he is, in fact, a piece of shit."

"Hey, you are who you work for, I guess." Fowler spat.

"I agree. Take you, for example. You answer to Adam Benford, one of the biggest fools I have ever met, and you allowed yourself to be deceived by one of the most untrustworthy men I have ever met."

"Go to hell, Skyfall."

Wesker stood in front of Fowler.

"Do you know who I am, Agent Fowler?"

"You're Umbrella, that's all I need to know."

"Ignorance is not a virtue, by any means. But, you _are_ right, oddly enough. I _am_ Umbrella."

"What is this, your whole 'We're all Negan' nonsense? You're just a puppet to Oswell Spencer."

Fowler's throat then met with the powerful grip of Albert Wesker. The new head of Umbrella looked vexed enough to want to rip the agent's head off.

"You don't know how lucky you are that I need you alive."

Wesker released Fowler, sending him into a coughing fit.

"That old fool that you speak of is dead."

Fowler managed to stopped coughing long enough to choke out a response.

"What?" He said in shock as he continued coughing.

"He was in my way so I ran him over. Umbrella is mine to command now."

Fowler stopped coughing again, finally realizing who he was talking to.

"You're...You're Albert Wesker."

"Yes, I am, Agent Fowler."

Fowler lashed against his chains, desperate to get his hands of Wesker.

"You son of a bitch! I'm gonna kill you! _You_ did that to Jack, you mother..."

Fowler was stopped by another violent coughing fit, this one worse than the previous.

"If your Autobots hadn't interfered, what I did to him might've been the worst of it."

Fowler was able to stop coughing once more, but saw he had coughed up blood this time. He feared what they had done to him.

"I merely wanted to break his spirit by inflicting terrible pain upon him so that he would know what I am capable of. I was going to grant his mother a quick death if he behaved himself. Now, because of the actions of your attack dogs, I'm going to have to crush his will to resist me. I'm going to have to remove more pieces of him as well as his mother to keep him in line."

Fowler ignored the blood from his mouth to look up at Wesker hatefully.

"If you touch them..."

"You'll what?"

"Whatever you put in me...I swear to God, I'll remember you when I change and I will rip you apart."

"As foolish as it is to believe that you could possibly retain a single memory of yourself after mutation, you're in luck. I haven't exposed you to any of my viruses."

Fowler would have been relieved to hear that. But he began coughing blood again. He was starting to think that the bald giant had caused some internal bleeding when he attacked him. The pain in his chest was getting worse and it was getting harder to breath.

"But you _are_ going to tell me where the Autobots are hiding the boy and his mother. You're going to tell me everything about the Autobots and you are going to help me capture him."

"You may as well just shoot me or infect me because I ain't telling you a goddamn thing." He said weakly.

"Not yet...But in a few short moments, you won't have the will to keep your secrets."

Fowler looked confused for a second, until the pain in his chest became too much for him to take. He began gasping and grunting from the pain as he felt something moving inside of him.

"You lying piece of shit! You said..."

"I didn't infect you with any virus created by Umbrella. I did, however, inject you with a parasite known as a Plagas."

Fowler began having violent spasms as the Plaga began to take effect.

"You were unconscious for long enough that the Plaga could hatch and mature inside of you without resistance. What's happening to you now is that it's attaching itself to your spinal cord, robbing you the control of your basic motor functions."

Blood was beginning to flow from Fowler's eyes.

"And now, it's taking control of your brain, taking away your will. In a few moments, you will no longer possess any self awareness. The Plaga will have assumed complete control and will submit only to the dominant host."

Fowler's spasm began to calm and he was no longer writhing in pain. Wesker held the top of his head to see if he survived the bond. His eyes were indeed red, but did not glow in the dark room as to show a sign of life.

"Russell, can you feel him?"

"Not yet, Sir."

Wesker held Fowler's head for a few more moments, until he groaned and came back to life. Wesker released him and waited for him to lift his head. He looked up at Wesker and Russell, no sign of resistance in his eyes.

"Russell."

"Yes, Sir." Russell turned to Fowler. "State your name."

"Agent William Fowler." He said.

"Agent Fowler...tell us where Jackson Darby is being held."

"At a B.S.A.A. base hidden in the Patagonian Desert of Argentina. I can't recall the exact coordinates."

Fowler spoke with almost no emotion in his voice. Russell looked to Wesker, who was pleased with this gain.

"Alright, Agent Fowler." Russell began. "Tell us about this base and everything we need to know about the Autobots."

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Optimus took a hard look at what was in front of him. The Autobots looked along with him, as did the the B.S.A.A. and the two D.S.O. agents. They expected this to be a risky and dangerous mission. They didn't expect that someone would beat them to the punch. Spencer's hideout, which looked like it could've been an massive estate of some kind, was burned to the ground. The entire structure was reduced to charred rubble. This should've felt like a victory to the Autobots, but Optimus didn't think so. Too many questions were raised by this turn of events. Did Spencer survive? Did he escape? If so, where was he now? Most importantly, who was behind the attack? Optimus remembered what Jack said to them when he learned of what his blood could do. If he was right, then there was one person who would've taken such action against Umbrella's leadership.

"Wesker." Optimus said to himself.

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 **Welcome back, friends.**

 **So, things are happening on both sides of the board. The theme of this chapter was hope. There were many signs of hope this time around, from Jack, June, Miko and Raf, and the mission against Umbrella as a whole. That last one took a bit of a left turn, but we'll get to that later.**

 **Okay, be honest with me. Am I shilling Jack's character too much? He** _ **is**_ **the main focus of this story, but is there in inordinate amount time being spent on characters talking about him, even when he's not in the scene? This chapter in particular, I was beginning to worry that he's coming off as a Stu character of some kind. I know I haven't gone full blown Gary Stu, but I do feel that between the angst and the character focus, I may have overwritten him a bit. If I have, well, I'm too far into the story to make any real changes anyhow, but I'd like to know if that's what he comes off as.**

 **Anyway, so we Jack is getting better. (See, I'm doing it again. I'm focusing on him more than anyone. Ugh, back to the point.) Jack is improving, but he's not fixed. I want his development to being damaged to healing to be believable and I don't want it to seem like he's goes from messed up to perfectly okay one chapter to the next. Basically, he's taking the next step to moving forward and beyond what's happened. Right now, he's at a point where Arcee doesn't have to be afraid of him hurting himself, but she still worries about him not having support while she's gone.**

 **Which brings me to Raf and Miko. I haven't spent a lot of time detailing what they were going through, so I had to sort of touch on their troubles this chapter to give some insight. Now, shilling aside, Jack is the leader of the three and when they see him scared, they get scared. Unlike Jack, they're separated from their families and really don't have anyone except for their guardians to give them any reassurance. I didn't want it to seem like they rely on Jack but rather they all rely on each other. Arcee is comfortable with them keeping Jack company while he keeps them company with Bulkhead and Bumblebee gone.**

 **As for June, Optimus has been the one to give her the most support throughout all this. I realize that I'm no longer teasing something between them, but it's really not gonna go farther than just insinuation. We also have a small reunion with her and her son, which I think I'll go further into next chapter. Also, Jack does acknowledge that he views Optimus as a father figure. Maybe he will accept the Key to Vector Sigma pretty soon. Optimus certainly hopes so.**

 **There was also a little bit of hope for Leon and what could happen between him and Ada. Please don't misunderstand. Leon wants to help the Autobots and bring down Umbrella for the sake of humanity just like anybody else. The thought of being together with Ada is just an added reason to get rid of them.**

 **But like most of the chapters where things seem to be looking up, something happens that sets them back. Unfortunately, Optimus' hope to bring back the good news of Spencer's demise is now tainted with the knowledge that Wesker had gotten to him first. But the big game changer is that Fowler is under Umbrella's control now. I felt really bead about this since I do kinda like Fowler's character. I feel like the show could've done a little more with him, like the same way they did with John Diggle in Arrow. Not the vigilante of the character but the supporting friend to Team Arrow. Unfortunately, now that he has a Plaga in him, he's going to lead Wesker to where the Autobots are hiding. By the way, if I've already established the location of where the B.S.A.A. base is located, someone let me know so I can go back and change it. From here on out, the base is set in Argentina. Also, "Ivan" is another type of Tyrant that's meant to blend in with society. They're much more controlled than the other one we've seen.  
**

 **I really do enjoy reading your comments and reviews, so please let me know what you think of this chapter. And once again, thank you for joining me on this long journey. We're getting closer and closer to the end of the story and I will try to end it with a bang. For those who stuck with me this far, I appreciate you all. Enjoy the holiday season my friends. One love.**


	32. Chapter 32

Wesker, there was no other explanation. He _had_ to be the one behind this. The Autobots, B.S.A.A., and the two D.S.O. agents began to search the wreckage of what appeared to be a grand estate before it was burned down. As they searched the smoking remains, Optimus began to go over the logic in his head.

Umbrella didn't trust Wesker. Chris, Jill, and Barry had confirmed that. Jack had a theory that Umbrella was not aware of him or his blood and that Wesker was acting on his own with a selection of a loyal few under him. Of course, there were other possibilities, the Decepticons being the most obvious. But this level of destruction was tame compared to the lengths they would've gone to after Wesker had used them. Another possibility was M.E.C.H., retribution for Silas. But Silas _was_ M.E.C.H. and they could never have mounted such a defensive against a superior organization like Umbrella or their B.O.W.S

There was hardly any evidence to support his belief, but somehow, Optimus knew he was right. This was all at the hands of Albert Wesker and his men. The question was, why? What changed that he would turn on Umbrella like this? And was he successful? The estate was destroyed, but was Oswell Spencer caught in the destruction or did he escape? And if he had been killed, what did this mean for them?

"Optimus, we found something." Wheeljack called.

Optimus followed the call and saw that Wheeljack was standing by a hill of the wreckage, alongside his partner, Bulkhead. He was holding something in his servo. Optimus examined it and saw that it the charred remains of a deceased human being. His body was burnt beyond recognition, so there was no way to tell who he was holding.

"We're finding more bodies like this as we continue to search the wreckage, Optimus Prime." Josh Birk said as he stood close by.

"Any chance our guy is one of these poor fraggers?" Wheeljack asked.

Optimus continued to examine the corpse the wrecker was holding.

"I think that _is_ our guy." Chris' voice said.

Optimus gave the agent his attention as he and Leon pulled something else from the wreckage. It appeared to be an electric powered wheelchair that, surprisingly, had not melted in the fire. Optimus looked confused, not seeing the connection. Leon elaborated.

"Most of the bodies we've found so far were either holding weapons or nearby a discarded one. That one that Wheeljack's got doesn't seem to have one on or near him. He did have this wheelchair, however."

"Attached to it, what I think is some sort of life support system." Chris added. "Recent files claimed that Spencer's health was declining in his old age."

Optimus took another look at the remains of what could be the man they had come to kill.

"It must be him, Optimus." Josh commented. "There are many more armed corpses surrounding this area. They must have been his bodyguards."

"A lotta good that did him." Chris said.

The logic was sound, but the question still remained. What has changed since the destruction of Jasper that Wesker would take such action? It was mystery that bothered Optimus to no end.

"Well, good riddance." Bulkhead said loudly.

"Can't say I disagree, Bulk." Chris followed.

"Well, then." Wheeljack said, before carelessly tossing the corpse away. "Mission accomplished."

Bulkhead agreed with him, but Optimus and the agents seemed indifferent.

"Right?" Wheeljack questioned.

"Someone has gotten to Oswell Spencer before we could and we do not know who." Josh said.

The looks on Chris' and Leon's face agreed with him.

"So?" Bulkhead asked.

"There's another party at work here and we have no clue who they are or what they're after." Leon explained. "We don't know if their on our side or their own. For all we know, there's someone else who might know about Jack."

Wheeljack and Bulkhead didn't like the sound of that. Optimus decided to voice his theory.

"I do not believe that this is the work of an unknown party."

All eyes/optics fell on him.

"I suspect that Albert Wesker was behind this attack."

Chris, Leon, and Josh all looked alarmed, then serious, waiting to hear the Prime out. The two Wreckers seemed like they didn't believe it.

"What makes ya' say that, boss?" Wheeljack questioned.

"I cannot be certain, but we suspect that Wesker has been acting against us without Spencer's knowledge. Perhaps, this attack was his way of severing all ties with him."

Having explained that, it seemed to make sense to the two skeptics of the group, as well as the three humans. Still, they didn't understand why this was a problem.

"So, the creep did us favor." Bulkhead said.

He looked down to see the three humans looking indifferent.

"What, he didn't?" He asked.

Optimus looked to his subordinate with a grim face.

"Bulkhead, if Wesker was indeed responsible for the death of Oswell Spencer, then he has put himself in higher position of power within Umbrella."

"A higher position?" Bulkhead repeated.

"He runs the show now." Chris elaborated.

"What?" Bulkhead said in shock.

Optimus continued.

"The mission to eliminate Spencer was not only to destroy Umbrella's leadership, but to also destabilize the organization by creating a power vacuum. The sudden loss of its current leader would cause many to try and seize power and create conflict within their ranks, making it much more difficult for them carry out their operation."

"And make it easier for us to take'em down." Leon finished. "But if Wesker was the one who killed him..."

"He took the power for himself and became the _new_ leader of Umbrella." Bulkhead said with realization.

"Precisely." Optimus concurred.

"Which means, this mission, the intel Fowler gave us..." Bulkhead started.

"It was for nothing." Chris finished. "And everything we stood to gain from getting Spencer ourselves died with him."

Chris took a moment to let that resonate with he others before continuing.

"The only good thing to come out of it is that taking out Wesker means taking out Umbrella. But now that he's running things...it'll be a lot harder to get to him."

And thus, the failure of the mission was spelled out clearly for them. This mission was a complete waste.

"Scrap." Bulkhead said.

"Arcee and the others ain't gonna be happy to hear this." Wheeljack said.

"Neither will the kids." Bulkhead followed.

The mood was now low and Optimus saw no reason to stay. But before he could call his team back, he was beaten to the comm link by his S.I.C.

 _"Optimus, Sir, I think you need to see this."_

"What is it, Arcee?" He responded.

 _"We have a B.O.W."_

Optimus quickly transformed and allowed Chris and Leon to enter the cabin. Bulkhead did the same and opened his door for Josh. The three Autobots rode to Arcee's location to see this B.O.W. for themselves.

As they approached the remainder of the team, Optimus could see that they took defensive stances, but in the cases of Arcee and Bumblebee, they were looking at something below them. The three Autobots pulled up and transformed after allowing their passengers to exit. Optimus walked up beside Arcee and saw what she had called him for. When he got a good look at it, he fought to keep from looking away. Even after seeing Hunters, Lickers, the creature that Silas had turned into, and Jackson's father, the sight of these poor souls still shocked and horrified him.

Like Joshua Darby, this being held onto a vaguely human appearance, but he could tell that beneath the shroud of human faces she was wearing, her own was anything but human. She released a husky groan as she struggled to pull herself out of the stone wreckage she was buried under. From the looks of things, she must've dug her way out this far. It was a sight Optimus could hardly bear, but Barry, Chris, and Jill, looked at the creature a little differently. Optimus could see the look of recognition in their faces, Chris with greater shock, since he had just arrived.

"You gotta be kidding me." He said in shock.

Both Jill and Barry looked at him with grim faces. Chris could only cover his mouth.

"Do you know this being?" Optimus said as the creature continued to try and crawl out from the rubble.

There was a hesitance to answer and a look of pity of their faces. Jill was the one who was able to speak up.

"We encountered her in the Arklay Mansion..." Jill spoke with a sad expression. "That's Lisa Trevor."

Optimus remembered the name from one of the many files he had read back at the base, a few of them, diaries. Lisa Trevor was perhaps Umbrella's most tragic victim. Her whole family had been taken and used by Albert Wesker. Her father has designed the Arklay Mansion, but was left for dead in a particularly cruel fashion once he had fulfilled his purpose, to keep the many secrets he had built into the mansion. His wife and daughter were taken captive as he did his job and experimented on without his knowledge. They endured procedure after excruciating procedure for months, before his wife gave out. She was fortunate to have died, because Lisa lived to become...this.

"Lisa Trevor." Arcee repeated, as if remembering the name.

She looked as if she had recollected it. Optimus wasn't surprised to know that she had researched Umbrella through the B.S.A.A. herself. Just like Optimus, she looked onto the poor woman with sorrow and anger. This is exactly why Umbrella had to be destroyed, why Wesker had to die. Arcee looked as distressed at the sight of Lisa, no doubt, thinking about Jackson. This could've been him if Wesker had his way. She looked up to Optimus, optics begging for some sort of answer. The Prime returned with a firm look, nodding his head. Suddenly, the pair armed their blasters and aimed them at the deformed young woman. The humans stepped back when they realized what was about to happen. Optimus and Arcee looked at Lisa, hating what needed to be done.

"I am sorry." He said, solemnly. "Please, forgive us."

With that, they began firing down at Lisa, causing painful shrieks as she was burned from energon fire. Neither of them were going to let up until they were sure that she was dead. But as they continued to fire, Lisa continued to claw her way out of the rubble.

Smoke had built up and the two were forced to hold their fire, unable to see their target. They held their blasters barrels up and listened for the sound of movement. They heard none, but did not lower their guard. A sound of metal hitting the ground was heard through the smoke and Lisa dragged feet into view, her shackles and chain having fallen off. They were all shocked to see her still alive.

"What the frag?!" Bulkhead shouted.

"She's almost impossible to kill." Barry said. "Even the mansion blowing up couldn't do it."

Now fully recognizing the threat, Lisa weakly protruded her tentacles in defense. Arcee and Optimus aimed their weapons again.

"We must." Optimus said of Barry's earlier comment. "We _must_ set her free."

They opened fire again, seeing it slow her down, but not stopping her. They shifted their other blasters and began doubling their shots. Soon, they were joined by Bumblebee, then Bulkhead, then Wheeljack. The combined effort from all ten blasters had begun to spread smoke all throughout the ruins, but they still didn't let up. Optimus needed to put an end to Lisa Trevor's life, to reunite her with her mother and father, to release her from Umbrella's curse.

"Autobots!" Optimus called above the blasts.

The shooting stopped and Team Prime kept watch with their weapons still up. The smoke slowly dissipated and, eventually, gave them a view of Lisa Trevor. Her body was charred and smoking, still as a statue, and brought down on her knees. The Autobots didn't lower their blasters, but Chris, Jill, and Barry approached cautiously. They didn't even get within leaping range of her before one of her arms had broken off and fell apart on the ground, while her body remained motionless. The agents lowered their guard and turned to face the Autobots. Jill, in particular, looked grateful to them. Lisa was dead. After years of torment and pain, she was finally released from her misery.

The Autobot's lowered their weapons and shifted them back into servos, but there was still an unhappy mood in the air. None of them enjoyed what they had done, Optimus especially, having done this a before. But there was still work to do before they left this place.

"Autobots." Optimus said lowly.

His crew turned to him.

"We must search the area for any other B.O.W.s that might've survived the fire. You know what must be done if you find any."

The Autobots did not answer, but Optimus knew they knew.

"We need to call in a bio-hazard crew." Jill ordered the others. "This area needs to be sanitized to prevent the virus going airborne. Everyone is to be cautious when cleaning the area."

Josh stepped forward.

"I would suggest the sanitation crew take a sample of the G-Virus from Lisa Trevor."

Jill and Chris looked curiously to Josh.

"Dr. Jenkins still requires samples to make a cure with Jackson's blood."

"We'll make sure they collect one. Thanks, Josh." Jill said.

Josh nodded and the team began to disperse, but Chris looked back to see the Autobots still standing around Lisa's corpse, except for Optimus. He remembered how the Prime became racked with guilt after what happened in Yemen. Now, the others were going through the same thing. Optimus went back over to his team.

"Autobots, we have work to do."

There was a moment of pause before the team went to scout the area, a dark and dreary mood hanging over the helms of each one. Optimus understood their distress. He had felt the same thing when he found the room of cryo-pods, each containing a human too far gone to return to their old lives. They had already killed many B.O.W.s by this point, but none that they could recognize, even vaguely, as a human. This one made it very easy to imagine their young allies. Bumblebee, with the demeanor that of a frightened sparkling, approached Optimus.

 **"Optimus, Sir?"** He lowly said.

"Bumblebee?"

 **"Can I go back to base and check on Raf? I'm really worried about him."**

Optimus understood Bumblebee's desire to want to be with his small companion for comfort, but he also knew that it would cause more harm than good.

"Bumblebee, as you are now, it would be unwise to allow Rafael to see you in a state of distress. He will, undoubtedly, become worried. Search the area as you were instructed, allow yourself a moment to come to terms with what has just happened. For Rafael's sake, collect yourself. Things will not be optimistic when tell our allies what has happened here tonight."

The disappointment was visible, but Bumblebee seemed to understand. The young scout transformed and drove away from the area to search the perimeter. Optimus looked to see Bulkhead and Wheeljack ready to do the same. But as they walked away from the crowd, he could hear a clearly disturbed Wheeljack talking to Bulkhead.

"Not our girl, Bulk." Wheeljack said with distress.

"I know, Wheeljack." Bulkhead replied.

"That can't happen to Miko."

"It won't."

"We need to stop them...Now...They'll do that to the whole world if they have the chance."

"We'll stop'em, Jackie...We'll stop'em."

For Wheeljack to become this disturbed was a sign of how cruel Umbrella was. Perhaps he had assumed that Lisa Trevor was younger than she actually was, maybe even Miko's age. Optimus looked back to see Arcee still staring at Lisa's corpse. He approached her, knowing that this had hit closer to her spark than anyone's.

"Arcee." He said as he came up behind her.

Arcee didn't answer, still staring at Lisa Trevor.

"Arcee, are you alright?"

Arcee was silent for a moment.

"She deserved better than this."

Optimus heard the anger in her voice.

"Yes...she did."

"They all did, her mother and father. They should be buried together. Umbrella tore them apart."

Arcee lowered her head and then turned around to walk past Optimus. The Prime stopped her out of concern.

"Arcee."

"I need to scout the perimeter, Sir."

"I understand, but take a moment."

Arcee stopped, but she didn't calm down.

"I just want to finish here and go back. I..."

Arcee held her own arms in a way she would only allow Optimus and one other to see.

"I really want to be with Jack right now."

Optimus understood, he desired the comforting presence of June Darby himself. The Prime said nothing and Arcee kept walking forward. She was about to transform.

"She just wanted to see her mother." She said. "They kept sending her strangers to pretend, but Lisa saw through them. She just wanted to find her...that's why she kept chasing Jill and Chris."

Optimus knew the story all too well and it hurt no less than when he had first learned of it. He could only offer one bit of comfort.

"They are reunited now, Arcee, in the Well of The All-Spark."

Arcee let go of her arms, but she still looked upset.

"I hope so, Optimus. That little girl didn't deserve this."

Arcee said no more as she transformed and did her task. Optimus took one last look at Lisa and then transformed to do the same. This was a huge step backwards, but Umbrella still hadn't gotten Jackson. They hadn't won yet. Optimus would relinquish his title as Prime before he would allow that to happen.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Wesker watched as Russell learned as much as he could from William Fowler, who was as obedient as any host of the Plaga to the dominant strain. He answered every question truthfully and without hesitation. But getting the necessary information was quite tricky. Russell had to make sure his questions were neither too broad nor specific. A hosts answers tended to be quite literal.

"So, there are currently only six Autobots here on Earth." Russell stated.

"Yes." Fowler confirmed.

"And what of the Decepticons? Are there any others outside of the five I mentioned?"

"Starscream."

"Where is this Starscream and how come Wesker didn't see him aboard the Nemesis?"

"I don't know."

"What of their Vehicons army? How many soldiers do they have?"

"I don't know."

"Alright." Russell said with slight impatience. "Can we expect retaliation from them in the near future after the battle in Jasper?"

"Yes."

Russell looked to Wesker. He knew that the Decepticons coming back on him was a possibility. He still wasn't sure how the one known as Soundwave even found him, but after escaping them, he took extra care to cover his and Umbrella's tracks. But if they managed to interfere with him again, it could undo his whole plan. Wesker looked back to Russell, signalling him to continue.

"What of the B.S.A.A.? Who are the core members?"

"Clive O'Brian, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers."

"Ah, yes." Wesker said to himself. "The remaining S.T.A.R.S."

"What other members do you know by name?" Russell continued.

Clever, any one Fowler would get to know would be someone to be cautious of.

"Sheva Alomar, Josh Stone, Piers Nevans."

"Which of these agents should I be most weary of?"

"Jill Valentine."

"Why?"

"Because she escaped Raccoon City with Jackson and June Darby. She is very protective of them."

"And the Autobots, which of them would stand in our way the most."

"All of them."

Wesker turned around and took over.

"But if there was one among them who would do everything in their power to stand between us and Jackson Darby, which one would it be?"

As Wesker expected, Fowler didn't answer his question because he was not the dominant host.

"Answer him." Russell commanded.

"I can't"

That wasn't an expected answer.

"Why not?" Russell asked.

"Because there are two Autobots who'll protect Jackson Darby."

"Who are they and why?"

"Optimus Prime and Arcee. Prime because it's his nature, he's very protective of all humans, and because he really wants to get you for taking Jackson's eye. Arcee because Jackson is important to her. She's his designated guardian and has taken him as a partner. She would die to protect him."

"It will come that William Fowler." Wesker said. "I can assure you."

Wesker prepared to leave the sealed room where Fowler was kept.

"Await further instructions." Russell commanded.

The two left Fowler alone, who did nothing as they closed and locked the door behind them. He had no will of his own that compelled him to try and escape.

Wesker and Russell entered another room to discuss their plan of attack and extraction. Learning what they had about the Autobots and the B.S.A.A. base was valuable, but options were limited.

"How do you want to proceed, Sir?" Russell asked.

"Approaching the situation the same as last time is not an option, especially since we do not have the Decepticons to provide a distraction for us."

"Sir, I suggest we use William Fowler to get close enough to Jackson Darby and capture him."

"That's the obvious course of action, but there are too many obstacles. Fowler will not be allowed to simply walk out of the base with the boy. According to him, they were able to build another ground bridge which cost us the boy last time. Perhaps, we could use that to bring him to us."

Wesker began formulating a plan in his head, but he needed to take many factors into account.

"Sir, perhaps we should question him about President Benford. If he knows about the Autobots, then he knows about us."

"These are things we will take care of after we have the boy. He is our first priority. And when one of them realizes that Fowler is missing, their defenses will be raised."

Wesker's wheels were turning and he already had an idea of how he should proceed with capturing his missing component. The first problem was learning the exact coordinates. Since Fowler hadn't been to the base, he couldn't provide an exact location. Then it was a matter of getting the boy and his mother through the ground bridge. The Autobots would certainly not allow the two to leave the base under any circumstances, so the only option would be to do so without their knowledge.

"I think I may have an idea Russell, but it's going to need some fine tuning. If we are going to get Jackson, we will need to consider every possibility."

"Absolutely, Sir."

And so, the two began going over the plan and coming up with ideas. They had a small window to take advantage of, but Wesker never needed anything more than that. From a disposable scientist of Umbrella to a weapon in his own right, Wesker had proven himself to be extremely resourceful.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The team returned to base with their helms and heads low. Ratchet knew that the mission was not a success.

"What went wrong?" He asked.

Before Optimus could take him somewhere to explain without the children hearing them, he saw Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack go to their companions. Arcee had already noticed that Jack wasn't present and went to go look for him.

"That bad?" Ratchet questioned.

"The team witnessed something that was...disturbing." Optimus answered.

"I see."

Ratchet remembered how Optimus told him about the Yemen base and saw that the others were behaving similarly. But there were other questions he needed to be answered.

"What about the mission? Did we get Spencer?"

"Not exactly, old friend."

Ratchet was confused and wondered what Optimus meant by that. The Prime took the moment to explain what they found, what he believed happened, and what this meant for Team Prime.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack helped his mother into her bed. Even though she was doing much better, both in body and spirit, her injuries made her weak and exhausted. She still needed to rest so she could recover. Jack adjusted her in her bed to make her as comfortable as possible. Things she had taught him over the years had come in handy and he found himself handling the task of nurse and caretaker quite well. He didn't notice June smiling at him as he handled her with gentle care.

"You're my son, no doubt about that." She said, with slight fatigue in her voice.

"Right, because me looking like a teenage, male version of you wasn't proof enough." He said.

Jack got her settled in and made sure that she seemed comfortable and not in pain in any way. As he drew the covers over her, he felt her touch his face and looked at her smiling up at him. Jack took her hand, stroking the top of it with his thumb. She looked deeply into his face, almost reminiscent.

"You look so much like your grandfather."

Thinking about "Pop-Pop" brought a little sadness to Jack's heart. The old man was a huge part of his life when he still lived in Racoon City. Unfortunately, a bad heart took him away from him and June two years before the outbreak.

"You have his eyes, very deep blue."

It's funny, Jack had gotten use to having one eye by now. The others did as well, his mother, Arcee, and Optimus. Perhaps after everything he'd been through with his father, it took the sting out of what Wesker had done to him. Though he still couldn't think about the pain he was put through, he had already moved past that.

"I've got _your_ eyes, Mom." Jack said. " _You've_ got Grandpa's eyes."

June lightly laughed at that. She kept gazing up at he son deeply, her eyes becoming wet. But she didn't look sad.

"He'd be so proud of you, Jack. He always knew that you were destined to do great things."

"I don't think this is what he had in mind."

"Maybe not. But it wouldn't surprise him to see that you're not afraid, that you're willing to go through with it. You were his little brave one long before you were Jill's."

Jack was becoming a bit misty eyed, now.

"I miss him." He said.

"So do I, sweety. I miss him every single day. But you...you remind me so much of him, sometimes I feel a part of him is still with me."

Junes eyes were beginning to look heavy and Jack could hear her breathing slow.

"I love you so much, Jackson, more than you can ever know, and I'm proud of you."

"I love more, Mom." Jack emotionally said.

That made her laugh again.

"Wrong, buster. A son could never love his mother more than she loves him. That's a fact."

They both laughed now, but June was growing more drowsy.

"Jack?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Optimus loves you."

Jack took a moment to let that sink in.

"I know."

"Don't be afraid to love him back...I'm not." June said with a slight blush.

Jack didn't need to hear it from her to figure that last part.

"Listen to him, Jackson. He's telling you the truth..." She spaced her words because of her sleepiness. "You're worthy of that Key...I know you are."

June's words faded as she fell asleep. Jack covered her up to her neck and kissed her cheek. He stayed with her for a moment to make sure that a nightmare didn't haunt her. He saw that she was resting peacefully and stood up over her bed.

"Not yet, Mom, but soon."

Jack left his resting mother in her quarters and headed back to his own. He had spent most of the day with her and was wondering if the Autobots would return from their mission soon. He entered his quarters and noticed Arcee sitting against the wall next to the entrance. She didn't seem to hear him come in. She had her face hidden behind her knees and it looked like she was asleep. Jack wondered how long she had been back, but was happy to see her all the same.

"Hey, Arcee."

Hearing his voice made Arcee to look at Jack suddenly. But when he saw her face, he knew something wasn't right.

"Jack." She said. There was shock in her voice.

"Hey." He greeted with concern. "You're back."

Arcee just kept looking at him, and somewhat upset expression. This worried Jack.

"So, how'd it go? Did you get'em?"

Jack got his answer in the form of Arcee averting her optics.

"Oh." He said.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Jack didn't know how to feel about that. The Autobots stood to gain so much by getting Spencer. Did he get away? Did someone get hurt?

"Is-is everyone okay?" Jack urgently asked.

"Everyone's fine, Jack." She still wasn't looking at him. "No one got hurt."

That was a relief. But still, what went wrong? What happened that had Arcee looking like she had lost more than the mission.

"Arcee..."

The femme was able to look at him, though with a look of heavy sadness in her optics.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

He could see her becoming more upset about something he didn't know and he was afraid to find out. She looked at him longingly, as if she was still afraid of losing him.

"Come here, Jack?" She gently asked.

She looked in need of comfort, like she had been through something bad. Whatever it was she wanted, Jack wouldn't deny it to her. She had been his rock during this whole saga and it was long past time he returned the favor. He walked up to her as she lowered her knees and sat with her legs sprawled straight out.

As she was sitting, Jack was just below her chest plate, meaning he still had to look up to see her. He stared up at her, knowing how worried he looked. Arcee looked like she wanted to cry and Jack didn't like seeing her that way. Now, he knew what it was like for her after escaping Jasper. He then felt a large servo press against his back and push him against Arcee's frame. He felt the other one behind it and they both held him close to her. She tightly embraced him, just enough that she wouldn't hurt him. But being so close to her, even more than when he told her about Optimus giving him the Key To Vector Sigma, he felt her frame trembling. She was more than just upset, she was scared.

He looked up and saw that her optics were closed. Jack didn't mind being held, but he needed to know why she was like this.

"Jack?" She said first.

"Yeah, Arcee?"

"I...I need you to know something."

Her hold tightened a little.

"I'd never let them change you...Umbrella, I mean. I'd never let them infect you with anything and turn you into a monster."

She spaced her her words and she seemed to be taking breaths between them, even though she didn't need to. A habit she picked up from them, maybe?

"I'd never let that happen because..."

Jack felt one of her digits begin to stroke the back of his head.

" _Because I wouldn't be able to kill you if they did_."

She was crying, her voice sounded as if she was, anyway.

" _I could never bring myself to do it. I couldn't do what I'd have to...to stop your pain...to set you free._ "

She loosened her hold and pushed him far enough to be able to look down at him. Just as she had many times before, she lifted his chin with her servo.

"That's why I'd never let it come to that. Jack...I swear...I swear that I won't ever let them..."

"Arcee, stop." Jack cut her off.

Arcee looked hurt by that, but Jack held her digit to show her that wasn't what he was trying to do.

"You don't have to swear anything because I already know. I know that you would never let them get to me. After everything you've done to protect me, you've already shown me that."

"Jack." She said breathlessly.

Jack then did something he'd never done. He pulled away from Arcee's servo and walked back up to her. He somehow managed to get a firm foot on her chassis. With that, he was able to pull himself up her frame until he was high enough to reach her neck. It took a lot of effort, but he was able to wrap his arms around her neck and give her a proper hug. She was still at first, stunned most likely. But one of her arms went under his feet to support him, while the other servo held him again. She lowered her helm, affectionately nuzzling Jack's upper body. She was still shaking, but far less than just a second ago.

" _Thank you, Jack._ "

She pressed herself so close to him, as affectionately as a sister could. She was that in every way except blood or energon. It didn't matter in the slightest. Jack wished "Pop-Pop" could've met her. He'd definitely treat her like one of his own.

Arcee pulled her hand away and Jack let her go. She put both her servos together and gave him something steadier to stand on without the need of her frame to lean against. They both looked at each other, Arcee still emotional, but not as sad. They shared loving smiles with each other. Arcee then looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry, Jack." She said as she put him back down. "I know that kind of came out of nowhere."

"Arcee?"

She looked back to him.

"Please, tell me what happened?"

Even though Jack had comforted her, he could tell that whatever happened still weighed heavy on her. She lowered her servos, setting him back on the ground.

"Something went wrong before we got there...and now things have gotten...complicated."

Jack sat down on his bed opposite of her, ready to take in the details of where the mission fell apart.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"I see." Was all Ratchet could say after hearing how the mission had failed.

They had talked somewhere the children couldn't hear them. Their guardians had taken them elsewhere in the base upon their return. Now, Ratchet understood why Bulkhead and Bumblebee felt the need to be close to their charges and why Arcee really needed to find Jack. He felt nothing by sorrow for this "Lisa Trevor". But what concerned him more than anything was the knowledge that Wesker had gotten to Oswell Spencer before they did.

"So, our plan to cut off the head of Umbrella and disrupt their organization..."

"It is no longer a possibility, I'm afraid." Optimus finished. "Wesker now has control over Umbrella and everyone beneath him."

"Meaning, he's more protected than ever."

Ratchet had watched Optimus leave for the mission with such hope in his spark. Now, that hope was gone and all that was left was doubt.

"So, what happens now?"

Ratchet had an idea of what the next course of action would be, or rather, course of inaction.

"I'm afraid their is not much else the Autobots can do."

"Right, we let the B.S.A.A. search for Wesker."

The medic hated that, not being able to help track Wesker down. But even with his own tech, he had no idea what to look for to seek out this shadow organization.

"I hate to admit this." Ratchet began. "But a part of me wishes that we could form a temporary truce with the Decepticons. If we had a spymaster like Soundwave on our side, we'd have no trouble tracking down Wesker."

"Indeed, old friend." Optimus agreed. "The Decepticons managed to intercept Wesker as he was preparing to attack Jasper. Unfortunately, even with the threat of Umbrella on the horizon, Megatron still refuses to let go of his vendetta against us."

"Even when he sees the big picture, he's still shortsighted as ever."

Ratchet, however, wasn't going to let this discourage him. He still remembered seeing the kids coming back together after being apart for days, he didn't want to take that hope away from them. He didn't want to let go of that hope, himself.

"We haven't lost yet, Optimus."

Though he could tell that the Prime agreed with him, he didn't look less discouraged. Ratchet wasn't giving up.

"Wesker may have more men and more B.O.W.s, but he's still just a man. It'll take longer to get to him, but once we do, they'll be no one to fill the void."

Ratchet walked up to Optimus and put a firm servo on his shoulder.

"And as long as he doesn't know where to find us, all that added power is useless to him. And he won't find out, not this time. The only two outside of this base that know where we are would never betray us. We both know that."

It was working. There was still doubt it Optimus' eyes, but Ratchet was getting through to him.

"It's just a matter of patience, Optimus. Wesker has to be getting anxious by now. He's going to make a mistake and come out of his hiding place. When he does, we won't give him an inch. We will put him to the sword for every being, be they human or animal, that was killed, tortured, or infected by his or Umbrella's hands."

Determination was beginning to show in Optimus' optics.

"We have work to do, old friend." Ratchet continued. "One step backwards isn't going to stop us. Wesker's a fool if he thinks it will."

Optimus seemed to have something on his mind.

"He is no fool...But he is not untouchable. You are right, Ratchet. There is still work be done." He said.

"Indeed. So, let's get to it. The B.S.A.A. will do their part. You, on the other hand, have four humans to watch over. I'm sure one of them has been worried about you."

Optimus smiled when Ratchet mentioned her, and he _did_ mean June Darby. The medic wasn't blind. He could see the two getting closer to each other with each passing day.

"Go, Optimus. You're keeping me from my work."

"Thank you, old friend."

And with that Optimus left. One step backwards, that's all this was. Wesker was no closer to getting to Jack than before.

At least...That's what he thought.

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Wesker and Russell waited at the edge of the Patagonian desert, surrounded by trucks carrying cryo-pods of the same few B.O.W.s. Somewhere in this mass of nothing was the B.S.A.A. base, where they were hiding Wesker's prize. It was up to Russell and his puppet human to show them the way.

"Sir." Russell got Wesker's attention. "Our men have just landed in DC with Fowler. I'm going to have him find a secure location and reach out to the Autobots."

Fowler's last know location was in DC and so Wesker had him flown there to contact the Autobots. Not wanting the plan to fail again, the Captain left nothing to chance, such as him calling from a different location and raising suspicion.

"Is the GPS functioning properly?" He asked of his right hand.

Russell was silent for a few seconds, mentally commanding the Plaga inside of Fowler.

"It is, Sir."

"And you can see the coordinates through Fowler clearly?"

Russell closed his eyes for a few seconds more and opened them again.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good." Wesker said. "Alright, repeat the plan to me as I gave it to you."

"Sir." Russell replied. "I will have Fowler contact the Autobots and request a ground bridge back to the B.S.A.A. under the guise of receiving an update and checking the status of Jackson Darby. Once I'm there, I am to confirm that Jackson Darby and his mother are present. I am to search the area and learn as much as I can of their stronghold. My two main tasks are to find their ground bridge controls and a munitions armory. Using the armory, I am to create a distraction and deceive the Autobots into thinking that they are under attack from Umbrella. Using the chaos, I will convince Jackson and June Darby to follow me through the ground bridge for their own safety, using the coordinates of Fowler's previous location where our men will be waiting secure them."

"Excellent, Russell." Wesker replied.

"Thank you, Sir."

"But you're forgetting something." He added.

Russell looked confused.

"You were supposed to check the coordinates of your GPS, giving us an exact location should we need to resort to our backup plan."

Russell looked on with shame.

"My apologies, Sir."

"We cannot afford to make mistakes, least of all, from your end. If we lose Jack Darby again, Optimus would sooner take him back to his home planet before letting us get close a fourth time. Everything has to go exactly the way we need them to. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now, what's the status on Fowler."

Russell, once again, shut his eyes to get the answer.

"He's almost at the location, Sir."

Wesker turned his gaze back into the Argentinian emptiness. Things had to go his way. Twice, he'd let the boy get away from him, which left him exposed each time. Fowler said that Optimus had it out for Wesker. As strong as he was with the virus he had, he couldn't press his luck with the Prime.

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Arcee had explained to Jack what happened, expecting that sudden optimism he had just shown her to be gone. To to her surprise, and happiness, he didn't seem all that discouraged. Telling him about Lisa Trevor, that affected him a little. Arcee knew that he felt sorry for her and maybe he felt a little scared, knowing that he came very close to the same fate. But he still looked okay, like this news wasn't weakening his spirit. She wondered where this strength came from.

"Well...so much for that idea." He said, slightly disappointed.

He seemed to be taking the loss well enough.

"Jack, it's okay if you're a little worried." Arcee said.

"Why would I be worried?" Jack asked sarcastically. "Wesker just took total control of Umbrella and has more monsters and soldiers than he knows what to do with."

Arcee wasn't sure if Jack was masking fear with humor. He must've picked up on this, because he let go of his amused expression.

"Of course, I'm worried, Arcee." He said. "Wesker gaining more power can only be a bad thing. Nothing good's gonna come of it."

But despite saying that, he wasn't anxious or nervous.

"It's a bummer." He continued. "It would've been a huge hit to Umbrella if you guys had gotten to Spencer. Looks like Wesker was one step ahead of us."

He was thoughtful, Arcee could see, as if he was trying to figure out the next step.

"Jack...aren't you scared?"

Jack looked to Arcee as if he didn't understand the question.

"Not really."

That was surprising to hear.

"I mean..." He went on. "What's he gonna do with all that extra manpower? He still doesn't know where I am. More men and monsters aren't gonna help him track us down. Umbrella didn't know where these bases were before he took over. I don't think that'll change now that he's in charge."

Arcee's instinct told her that Jack was putting on a face to keep her from worrying. But the truth was, he was making a lot of sense.

"If Wesker ever did find us." He continued to say. "That _would_ be a problem."

The thought clearly loomed over them for a second, but they both pushed it away.

"The point is, it doesn't matter, Arcee."

Arcee listened to what he had to say.

"It sucks that you guys have a bigger wall to punch through to get to him, but I've seen you guys tear down some serious walls. Things didn't go how we'd hoped. Let Wesker have this victory, let'em get cocky. He'll screw up eventually."

Arcee couldn't believe how far her partner had come in just a few days. From lying broken and scared in his bed to being the one to cheer her up, he knew how to get back on his feet. She was happy that Umbrella hadn't beaten him. She was so scared that hearing about this would knock him back down. She should've had more faith in her partner.

Jack stretched his arm which Arcee took as a sign that he needed to get out for a little bit.

"C'mon, Jack. Let's go around the base for a while."

"Not a bad idea, Partner."

Arcee stood up and followed Jackson out into the corridor.

"And thank you." She said, slightly bashful. "You know, for the hug."

Jack looked up at her as he walked and smiled.

"I'd say anytime, but...I not sure I could make the climb."

"That's a shame. It was a really nice hug."

They continued down the hall.

"Still feel bad about Lisa Trevor, though." Jack said. "Can't believe that even Umbrella could be so cruel."

"It's was way worse than you think, Jack. Umbrella did more than just turn her into a creature that wouldn't die."

"The less I know, the better. I just...I hope she's at peace, wherever she is."

"She is, Jack, we made sure of that. She's free of Umbrella."

Arcee knelt down, stopping Jack and causing him to look at her.

"And soon, you will be too." She said.

For the umpteenth time today, Jack smiled at her. He was grateful to hear that, she could tell. She stood back up and they continued into the main hall.

"Jack." A familiar voice called.

The two looked to the source and saw Fowler standing by Ratchet and Optimus. It seemed like they hadn't seen him in vorns, the last time being in Jasper. The old agent looked happy to see her partner and walked up to the two of them.

"It's good to see you again." He said.

"You too, Agent Fowler." Jack responded.

"Glad you got outta there in one piece. Can't tell you how worried I was."

"Thanks." Jack said. "For getting everyone out of Jasper."

"That's my job, son." Fowler replied. "I'm _still_ one of the good guys."

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A considerable but safe distance away from the B.S.A.A. base, Wesker and his men were waiting for Russell to carry out the plan, ready to move in if his puppet was discovered. Russell was deep in concentration, making sure to capture Fowler's mannerisms and speech as accurately as possible.

"I'm in, Sir." He said, his eyes still shut. "I have eyes on Jackson Darby."

"Good work, Russell. Proceed with the plan."

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 **Once again, I've gone three weeks instead of staying within my two limit. But I'd like to take the time to say thank you to all my readers who not only put up with it, but encourage me to take my time so I can give you the best of my writing. I really appreciate you all being so patient with me lately. I can still try my best to get these out soon for you guys, but I will take the extra time as to not sacrifice the writing. You all deserve more than that. Thank you all for sticking with me.**

 **Side note, on ASOG, I mentioned double spacing my paragraphs to make it easier to read. But apparently, this website doesn't register it, so everything is still single spaced. I try to keep the paragraphs short, but this is the best I can do. I have a tendency to ramble.**

 **Most of this chapter didn't have a lot happening until the very end. Again, we've got some emotional moments between Jack and Arcee, which is wearing out it's welcome, I know. But it was all for the purpose of showing that Jack has gotten better since the Jasper incident. Plus, seeing Lisa Trevor and knowing what Umbrella did to her would make anyone with kids or siblings upset. Speaking of her, I felt it was necessary to end her story. I didn't want to put her character through anymore than Resident Evil already had, otherwise, the story would've drifted into full tragedy. Farewell to my favorite monster of the series. Kinda wished I spent some time with Miko, Bulkhead, Raf, and Bumblebee, but I was afraid of it being more of the same as with Arcee and Jack.**

 **Poor, poor, Fowler. I have to wonder if he's aware of what's happening and is absolutely powerless to stop it. Now that he's at the base, things are about to implode. You think third times the charm with Wesker? We're about to find out soon.**

 **I didn't realize until just now that my story became a year old back in November...Damn. Anyway, thanks for staying with me for this long and here's to another year of stories, feels, and missed deadlines. Hopefully, a lot less of that last one. You guys have been great and I look forward to giving you more in 2017. Peace, love, respect. Love ya'll.**


	33. Chapter 33

Jack was genuinely happy to see Fowler at their new base. After he evacuated Jasper, Miko's and Rafael's families among the people, Jack was extremely grateful to him. That and him putting himself at maximum risk to weed out Umbrella's puppets in Washington, he had long since gained Jackson's absolute respect. Hard to imagine that before anyone knew about his past, he used to be afraid of Fowler. But he was on their side and he hadn't been exposed yet, and while he was with them at the B.S.A.A. black-site, he was safe for the moment. Jack never told anyone, but he often worried about Fowler being out there on his own.

"You look well, kid. I'm sorry about everything that's happened." Fowler said in a friendly tone.

"It's alright, Agent Fowler." Jack assured. "Everyone did everything they could. At least no one was killed in the explosion."

"And you got out of there unharmed." Fowler added.

"Yeah well, we had a lot of people watching over us." Jack gratefully said, speaking of both the Autobots and the B.S.A.A.

"Well, you're safe now."

Fowler's face then grew serious, as if he had important news to tell.

"Listen, Jackson...Whenever you get a chance, I want to talk to you alone."

Jack wasn't expecting Fowler to tell him that and it worried him.

"Did something happen out there?"

Fowler's face changed suddenly, again, reassuring this time.

"No, no, no. Just wanna make sure that everything's okay with you, that's all."

Knowing that everything was okay at the moment, Jack stopped himself from worrying any further.

"Okay, Sure. Yeah, just let me know when."

"Alright, then."

"Agent Fowler."

Said agent turned to Optimus Prime.

"Optimus Prime?"

"I would like to debrief you on recent events...regarding Oswell Spencer."

A look of confusion appeared on Fowler's face for but a split second before disappearing.

"What happened?" He asked.

"We should discuss this matter in private. If you would follow me."

And with that, the agent and the Prime left to another part of the base so they could exchange information. But as he was leaving, Fowler looked over his shoulder at Jackson in a way that he found odd. Jack merely shook the thought off and looked to his partner by his side. Arcee smiled at Jack and they were about to continue walking around the base without any real intentions in mind. Before he could, Jill came up from behind Jack and put her arm around him in a playful manner.

"Hey, you." She said.

Jack looked over to Jill with a smile, always glad to be around his original guardian.

"Hey, Jill. What's up?"

Jill was already smiling, apparently happy about something. She then looked up to Arcee.

"Mind if I borrow your partner for minute, 'Cee?"

Even though Jack knew she wanted to spend some more time with him, Arcee didn't seem to mind Jill having a moment with him.

"Sure thing, Jill. I'll be around, Jack. Come find me when you're done."

Jill led Jack away as Arcee watched them leave. She settled herself elsewhere in the main hall and waited for her partner to return so they could take their walk around the base. Even though the mission was a failure, and the incident with Lisa Trevor, the atmosphere at base wasn't as somber as everyone feared. But then again, Jack had come out of hiding and raised the spirits of Rafael and Miko before that. Maybe seeing the three of them happy again was enough to lift the Autobots and the B.S.A.A. as well. It was amazing just how much hope three children could give to a group of hardened soldiers.

Arcee didn't notice, however, that Leon Kennedy was watching from a distance. He hadn't been focusing on Jackson, but rather, staring down the hall where Fowler and Optimus had gone. Leon had a puzzled look on his face. Something about Fowler's interaction with Jack and Optimus was bothering him and he didn't know why.

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Jill and Jack went into his quarters where Jack took a seat by his desk and Jill sat on his bed. She leaned back and rested on her hands held out behind her. Jack was surprised to see her so upbeat, despite what happened. He expected to be upset the way Arcee was just moments ago. Then again, Jill had long since been used to this sort of thing while Arcee wasn't.

"So, what's up, Jill?"

Though she didn't look down, Jill smile straightened itself out.

"So, you heard about the mission?" She cautiously asked.

Jack sighed, a little worried that Wesker had more resources now.

"Yeah, I heard. Wesker got to Spencer before you guys. Now, he's in charge."

Jill was looking more cautious now.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"The next time you guys go up against him, he's gonna have a lot more to throw at you...and that _does_ scare me."

"Well..." Jill said awkwardly. "We got a sample of G-Virus. That's another cure we could make."

"Still, just...Be careful out there, Jill."

Jack went back to smiling, very touched by Jack's worry.

"Don't worry about me, Jack. You've seen how I am in the field."

"Yeah." Jack said. "You're pretty badass."

There was a bit of silence between them, but Jill worked up the conversation again.

"You look like you're doing okay." She said. "Arcee told me that you were spending time Miko and Raf again while we were gone. I was happy to hear that."

Jack thought back to his friends, remembering what he'd put them through by hiding himself away. He was glad that they were getting better along with him.

"And Optimus mentioned seeing you talking to your mother. I was afraid you weren't getting any better but...Looks like you are."

"I guess. I mean...I hate what they did to my father...and to Jasper. It's hard to think about..."

Dark thoughts started forming in Jack's head, causing him to look away, but he quickly replaced them with images of his friends, his mother, Arcee, Jill, and Optimus.

"I still need help getting through all this, but..."

Jack started to smile again as he looked at Jill.

"I'm just glad I'm not alone."

Jill moved over on Jack's bed and motioned him to sit next to her. He did just that, but it felt a little strange having a beautiful woman like Jill in bed, especially since he still crushed on her a bit. Jill then put her arm around Jack and held him close, resting her head against his. This, of course, caused Jack to blush.

"You know I love you, right Jack?" Jill asked.

The question took Jack by surprise and made him blush a little more. But he composed himself and understood what kind of love Jill spoke of.

"I know...I love you too, Jill."

"You and June...You two are my only family outside of the B.S.A.A. You mean everything to me and I'd do anything for you both. Seeing you that day...it hurt."

"Jill..."

"I never wanna see you like that again, Jack. I never want to see you give up hope...Thank God for Arcee. I know she was the one who got you through it...Jack, my little brave one."

Jack took hold of Jill's hand, the one hanging off his shoulder.

"I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you, Jill. You protected me and Mom, you got me the vaccine, and you got us out of Raccoon City. Even after that, you stuck around."

Jack squeezed Jill's hand a little tighter.

"We owe you everything, Jill."

"You owe me nothing. You gave so much more back to me just by trusting me. Before I found you both, I had failed so many people that I wasn't sure I had it in me to escape the city. Then I had you two to take care of...it gave me the drive I needed. You and June...you've both been my personal reason to stop Umbrella. I've been fighting them that much harder ever since."

Jill put her hand on top of Jack's head and looked him in his eye. As much as she hated not being able to prevent him losing his other, she was happy to see the same bravery and will in his remaining one.

"It's gonna be hard road for all of you when this is over, but I am not leaving any of you until I know you guys are okay. And I promise, Jack, we are gonna put a stop to this. Umbrella will never haunt you again. I won't stop until I know they're gone for good this time. Just stay strong for me, okay?"

"I will...I'm not giving up."

"I know."

Jill then took Jack and hugged him tightly, holding it for several minutes. It warmed her heart when Jack returned the hug just as lovingly. She really did love him like a son and wanted to protect him from harm. If anything ever happened to June, God forbid, she'd take Jack in without hesitation. She let him go from her embrace and kissed him on the forehead. She looked at him for a minute longer before deciding to let him find his partner.

"Go on, Jack. Arcee is still waiting on you."

Jack got up and went to leave but stopped in the doorway.

"Jill?" He said before turning around. "Thank you."

And with that, he left. Jill remained on his bed, thinking about the young man that had just left.

"How did you get to be so brave, Jack?"

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As Optimus went over what happened to Fowler, Leon both watched and listened closely. There was still something off about Fowler but Leon couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was general lack of aggression or hotheadedness that Leon had come to expect of him. After all, Optimus was pretty much telling Fowler that the information he put himself at great risk to get was wasted thanks to Albert Wesker. Leon didn't forget their interaction when he brought him to the President under suspicion of being with Umbrella. His reaction now was but a pale shade to that. Why wasn't Fowler royally pissed off that Wesker got to Spencer before them?

"We believe that Albert Wesker has since taken control of Umbrella." Optimus concluded. "As of right now, we have not decided the next course of action."

Fowler seemed to ponder to himself, much calmer than Leon had known him to be.

"This is rough spot we're in. If Wesker is in charge at Umbrella, then he has more resources at his disposal."

"When we learn of his whereabouts, it will take a great deal of planning and effort to be able to break through his defenses. But I have faith in my Autobots and the B.S.A.A. as well as the D.S.O. When the time comes, he will not escape."

"I'm glad to hear that, Optimus Prime. In the meantime, the President wants me here in the trenches with you. Anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask."

"At the moment, there is nothing to be done, Agent Fowler. I am leaving the task of locating Wesker in the hands of Director Barker and his intelligence unit. I will be certain to keep you informed as I am."

"Thank you, Optimus Prime. While you're doing that, I should get myself familiar with the black-site. I'm gonna be here for a while."

"An excellent idea."

Fowler excused himself and left the area. Optimus didn't seem to notice anything different about him, but Leon was still unsure about the whole situation.

"Is something wrong, Agent Kennedy?"

Leon looked to Optimus who must've noticed his troubled expression.

"I don't know yet, Optimus."

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Through Agent Fowler, Russell began to survey the base that Jackson Darby was being hidden away in. Even though he had a visual on Captain Wesker's test subject, he still needed a way to get him out of the base and into his possession without drawing the attention of everyone in the black-site. So far, no one had suspected that William Fowler was not what he appeared. All Russell had to do was maintain the appearance and find some way to get Jackson alone and through the ground bridge without anyone's knowledge. But with so many people at the base, it was going to be more than difficult than expected.

The first thing Russell had Fowler do was examine the ground bridge controls. Wesker had suspected that the Autobots would build another after the fall of their previous base and he was right. Russell recognized the console and series of arches that made up the portal opening technology from what he could remember through the Hunters and the G-Mutation. However, he needed to get a closer look at it to understand the controls. The intel stolen from M.E.C.H. had a surprisingly detailed outline on how the ground bridge was operated, but it would serve to make things easier if Russell saw it for himself.

The controls were located in the main hall, where most of the Autobots and agents of the B.S.A.A. congregated. None of the agents were any he could recognize or put a name to. No doubt, the ones of interest would be elsewhere, planning their next move. Of the Autobots, there were three present, all residing in the same general area underneath the platforms. The Autobots known as Bulkhead and Bumblebee were both conversing with unseen individuals on the upper platforms, while the medical officer, known as Ratchet, was working by the Cybertronian sized consoles that also controlled the ground bridge. Russell had a feeling that the medic was often in that same spot and would be difficult to get him to vacant the area for him to complete his task. None of the present company seemed to acknowledge Russell's puppet, all the better for him. He looked around the area and determined that the controls were built into the platform area in the center of the hangar. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the controls designed for humans were set in the upper level. Russell had Fowler ascend the stairway nearest to him, which would put him in the path of the two Autobots. Nothing to be concerned about. They had no reason to suspect him or stall him in any way. Of course, when he came to the top of the steps, he saw two individuals he was not expecting.

Children, two of them, conversing with the Autobots. Russell was surprised to see two young civilians being kept in a B.S.A.A. black-site. One was a young girl of Asian descent, perhaps fourteen or fifteen. The other was a younger boy who was of Hispanic descent, either a preteen or just into his teens. It was possible that these two children were also former residents of Jasper. Perhaps, they were friends of Jackson Darby. It was probable that they came to learn of the Autobots and fell under their protection the same way he did. Russell didn't know what to make of this, but would remember it, should it become useful in the future. He attempted to move past them without drawing their attention, but one of them called out his host's name.

"What's up, Fowler?" A clearly feminine voice shouted.

Russell looked to the source and saw the Asian girl with the pink streaked hair running up to him. The spectacled Hispanic boy was following behind her, though at a slower pace.

"Oh, hello...kids."

Russell hoped the way he addressed them was lost upon them. He didn't know either of their names, but they seemed to be friendly with him. This could be a problem. By now, the younger one had caught up.

"We're really glad you're alright, Agent Fowler. We were worried about you." He said.

"There's no need for that. I've got everything under control. But I do appreciate the thought."

"Dude, you've been in the snake pit this whole time." The loud one began. "Weren't you scared of not knowing who to trust in the White House, always wondering if your cover was gonna get blown and getting stabbed in the back and then being turned into a zombie or some ugly lizard monster with no skin?"

Within seconds of hearing her speak a complete sentence, Russell decided that he hated this little girl.

"I'm a trained Army Ranger. I know how to keep myself composed in dangerous situations."

"We were still really worried, Agent Fowler." The younger one said. "You did all that to help the Autobots take down Umbrella and you got everyone out of Jasper. You could've been found out and..."

The boy seemed unwilling to go any further and elaborate on what Umbrella might've done to Fowler if he was discovered before Jack Darby escaped Jasper. He had no idea.

"We're just happy you're here now. It's safe with the Autobots. Umbrella can't get to us here."

No idea.

"Everything's gonna be alright, son. The Autobots and the B.S.A.A. have got everything handled, so don't worry."

Russell hoped this conversation was over, but the young one still had something on his mind.

"Our families are okay, right? My parents and my brothers and sisters?"

The boy looked up to Fowler, wide eyed and hopeful. It really got on Russell's nerves.

"What about my host parents?" The other one added. "And my folks in Japan?"

"You're families are being taken care of. They're protected and safe, I can assure you."

That seemed to satisfy them.

"Okay, thank you, Agent Fowler." The boy said.

Glad to be finally done with these two, Russell had Fowler ready himself to leave. But the Asian girl wasn't finished, even as he was walking away.

"Don't worry, Fowler. The Autobots are gonna kick Umbrella's butt for what they did. And when they find Wesker, they're gonna pound him into the dirt like a jackhammer."

Oh, how Russell wished he could slam the T-Virus right into her neck and shut her up for good. Holding his tongue, and gritting his teeth, Russell strolled by the console in a way that didn't arouse suspicion. He was able to get a good enough look at it that he thought he could figure out how it operated. Thankfully, the medic paid him no mind. Russell decided that he had enough of the area and went on to search the rest of the compound.

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"I've got a basic layout of the controls, Sir." Russell said to Wesker.

"Good. He replied. "Alright, examine the base and determine the best way to bring the boy the bridge and lure everyone else away. You're best bet is to find the armory. Preferably, one that isn't too close to the ground bridge."

"Yes, Sir."

"And remember, draw no attention to yourself.

Russell then re-assumed control of William Fowler and continued with the plan.

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It took a while, but Russell was able to get a basic layout of the base, or at least, the areas where Jackson Darby and those around him usually resided. The entirety of the base was far too big for Russell to explore with the time frame he was working with. A shame really, considering the opportunity presented with this infiltration. Wesker suspected that the B.S.A.A. were putting Jackson's blood to their good use and creating a vaccine or two. The problems that could create were more than a little concerning and this was a good chance to sabotage their work. But the boy was the mission and Russell could not deviate from the plan. Speaking of which.

There were several armory's, weapons caches, and munitions storage all around the base. Russell had managed to find one close enough to the Autobot's designated area that if something were to happen, it would get there attention but far enough to put some distance between them and Jackson, if Russell could get the boy alone. All he had to do was create a distraction to lure the Autobots away while keeping Jack there.

The armory consisted mostly of firearms and ammo, but there were several close ranged weapons such as knives, batons, and stun guns as well. There were also an assortment of explosives ranging from grenades to landmines. These would be perfect in creating a disaster that would force the Autobots and B.S.A.A. to try and contain. The only problem was that Russell needed to set the explosion off at the right time. For that purpose, there was nothing in that armory he could use. But in another, he found a remote explosive with considerable range that would suit his needs.

Taking caution as to not be seen, Russell placed the explosive behind the assortment of incendiary grenades. Once that was done, he began searching for the boy to set the plan in motion. He went back to the main hall where Ratchet was still working at his console, but thankfully, the children and the Autobots were gone. But Jackson was nowhere to be seen.

"Is there something you need, Agent Fowler?" Ratchet asked.

"Have you seen Jackson?" Russell replied through Fowler.

"Yes, I have. He came here searching for Arcee, but got pulled away by the Miko and Rafael."

It was a good thing that Russell's facial expression wasn't mirrored by Fowler or else Ratchet might've wondered why his eye had twitched suddenly upon hearing that.

"You'll probably find them in one of their quarters." Ratchet went on to say.

"Thank you, Ratchet."

Russell sent Fowler to the living quarters of the hangar in search of his target, preparing his wits to deal with the loud little girl. He also needed to think up an excuse to get them away from Jackson before he created his diversion. Russell was so close, but there were so many things that could pull the plan apart.

After searching many empty rooms, he finally found a living space the three children occupied. Whatever they were talking about, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, not that Russell cared at all.

"Dude, that is gnarly." The pink streaked female said in wonderment.

"Did you just use the word 'gnarly' in a sentence?" Jackson said incredulously.

Russell decided that if he stayed out of sight and waited for them to finish their pointless conversation, it'd be easier to get the other two to leave if they had nothing else to say to the boy.

"I can't believe that actually happened...Did it...Did it hurt?" Miko cautiously asked.

There was a pause of silence between the three of them.

"It hurt more than anything I've ever felt before, even getting bit...And I was scared...more than I'd ever been up until then." Jack responded in voice that carried a bit of distress.

"Jack, you don't talk about this if you you don't want to." The younger boy said.

"No, I do...It's time I talked about it instead of burying what happened."

"But...wouldn't you rather talk with Arcee or Jill?" The girl asked.

"They've done enough for me already...Besides, I trust you guys."

"It's okay, Jack. We're here for you." The boy said.

Russell heard Jack take a deep breath, slightly curious as to what Jackson was talking about.

"I'd never felt so helpless in my life. Wesker had me at his mercy and he knew it. The pain was so bad...It felt like my whole face was being ripped off."

"Oh, my God." The girl whispered.

"I passed out just as he was about to finish...Then I woke up back in the old base. Even with all the meds Rebecca had me on, my eye...or the hole where it used to be, it felt like it was burning all the way through to the back of my head."

"Does it still hurt?" The boy asked.

"Yeah...but I'm use to it now...It's like, it's there but it's not there...Sometimes, it gets bad but most of time, I just grin and bear it. But it's weird because...I can't see around me like I use to. It's still so...off to not see what's to the right of me. Aiming a gun is next to impossible. I'm still a righty and I have no real hand eye coordination."

"You can always go southpaw." The boy suggested.

"Or you go all Lana Kane and carry a pair of machine guns and just spray and pray." The girl added.

"Thanks Miko, but I'd be more likely to shoot someone else and not my target if I did it that way...But the one thing I just can't get use to is feeling like my eye is still there."

"Phantom limbs." The boy guessed.

"Yeah, something like that." Jack answered. "But it's weird because...we don't really notice when we blink, we just do it. But every time I blink or close my eyes when I yawn or go to sleep...I feel the right side of my face trying to do the same as the left with an eye I don't have anymore. It's not a comfortable feeling...It really makes me wish I still had both eyes...that and how it upsets my Mom when she sees me without my eye patch. Sometimes, it seems like it hurts her just as much as me."

Again, there was a pause. Russell didn't care either way of what the boy was thinking, so long as he was done talking with the other two.

"At least you have your other eye." The girl said with sympathy. "And we know the 'Bots won't let Umbrella have that one too."

"Yeah, Optimus and the others will protect us." The younger boy added.

"I know, Raf." Jack said. "They always do...I just want this whole thing to be over."

"So do we, Jack." The boy said.

Another pause of silence.

"Still..." The girl began. "It's not like things can go back to the way they were. Jasper's gone and the Decepticons are still out there."

Once again, the trio said nothing, leaving Russell to believe their little talk was over.

"But we have each other." The girl continued. "And as long as we stick together like we promised, it doesn't matter where we are. As long as I don't lose you guys, I don't care if I'm sleeping in my own bed or in some military base in God knows where."

"Same here, Miko." Jack said. "Raf?"

There was yet another pause.

"I love you guys." The boy said.

Russell didn't look, but he knew that the three of them were embracing each other. He'd have enough. He needed to break up this sentimental nonsense quickly. He had Fowler step into the doorway to catch the trio, as he guessed, hugging each other. The girl noticed him and quickly broke away in embarrassment.

"Agent Fowler!" She said. "We were just..."

Not wanting to hear whatever excuse she was about to give, Fowler merely put his hand up to shush her.

"You two, Raf and Miko." He said, now knowing the two of their names. "The Autobots are looking for you and I need to have a word with Jackson alone."

The two of them looked concerned at that, for whatever reason. They looked to Jackson, as if waiting for him to answer for them.

"It's alright, guys. I'm sure it's nothing too serious. Beside, Bulk and 'Bee are probably worried about you. Go on, I'll be fine."

The two looked at each other for a moment and then back to Jackson. The boy was the first to embrace Jack once again before Miko bashfully did the same once he pulled away. Russell found the whole display sickening. Once the two were out of the room, Fowler approached Jack and took a seat next to him on his bed.

"What's up, Agent Fowler?" Jackson asked without any suspicion.

"Listen, I just finished speaking with the President. He wants to meet you in person."

The news clearly came as a shock to Jackson, having learned he was going to meet the supposed most powerful man in the country.

"The-the President...of the United States?" He said in disbelief.

"Yes, Jackson, President Adam Benford."

"Whoah...This is...He's-he's coming here?"

"No, Jackson. The President wants _you_ to see _him_."

This was also a shock to Jack, but of a different kind.

"Wait, hold on. You mean leave the base?...Agent Fowler, I'm not so sure that'd be a good idea. I can't leave the base. Umbrella is still after me."

"It'll be fine, Jackson. I'll be there with you."

"Yeah, but...what if someone in Umbrella's pocket sees me? What if they attack Washington like they did Jasper? I could get the President killed, or worse."

"I can assure you, Jackson, that this has all been taken into consideration and every precaution has been taken. Using the ground bridge, you will be taken to a secure location and accompanied by a team of trusted and skilled agents. You will meet with the President in secret and no record will be kept of you ever being in DC."

"But why does the President want to see me anyway?"

"Because, he wants to know why Umbrella is going to such lengths to capture you. He wants to hear it from you personally. He knows that you were held prisoner by them and that your father was also captured and mutated. He wants to know what they might've told you while you were their captive."

"But everything Wesker said to me, I've already told Jill and the Autobots."

"Even still, he wants to see the boy that everyone is saying could be the end of Umbrella. It's pure curiosity, Jackson. Pointless, I admit, curiosity he feels necessary to explore. It won't take more than a few minutes and then you will return here."

Jackson was very clearly reluctant to leave the safety of the B.S.A.A. hangar.

"I don't know about this, Agent Fowler. I mean...there's no way the Autobots would be okay with this."

"I've spoken with Optimus Prime and he wishes to ease the mind of the President."

There was clear disbelief in Jackson's eyes.

"He has met with the President in the past and understands why he wishes to see you. As long as I can guarantee your safety, he will allow you to the leave the base."

"I guess if Optimus is okay with it...But I'd feel a lot better if Arcee came with me."

Russell wasn't worried about that since all he needed was for Jackson to be willing to go with him before executing the next part of his plan.

"And Jill, she'd want to be with me too." Jackson continued. "And we have to tell my Mom. She won't like it, but if Arcee and Jill are with me, she might be okay with it. But I can't go without telling her or she'd have a panic attack. She's been through enough."

Russell decided to tell Jackson what he wanted to here to get him to go along.

"If that's what you wish, Jackson."

"Yeah, that's what we have to do. I'll meet with the President like he wants, but I need Arcee and Jill to be there with me. I trust your guys, but I'd feel a lot better with them."

"That's fine. I'll inform the President that you will be bringing them along. You can go ahead and find them while I do."

That satisfied Jackson, which is what Russell wanted.

"Thank you, Agent Fowler."

They both left Jackson's quarters, but just as he was about to turn the opposite direction as Fowler, the Plaga infected agent took hold of the detonator hidden in his pocket. Once the bomb went off, he would play the part of an Agent trying to get Jackson to safety and take him straight to the ground bridge while everyone else ran to the source of the explosion. Once he was through the bridge, he'd be back in Wesker's possession where he belonged.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Optimus was discussing something with his Autobots and Chris Redfield. Jill was with Jackson's mother, June Darby. Leon was also in the presence of Chris and the Autobots, receiving some very concerning information from President Benford, information that contradicted an earlier claim from Agent William Fowler.

"You ordered him to fall back?" Leon asked into his phone.

 _"I suggested he step away from the mission and let you and the others handle it. The Autobots have their Ground Bridge technology up and running again and you had brought the D.S.O over there. I wanted Agent Fowler to fall back for his own safety. There was no need for him to risk being caught in Umbrella's crosshairs any longer."_

"But he refused."

 _"He wanted to be there for those kids and June Darby. I tried to get him to reconsider, but he was adamant about his decision."_

Fowler said that he was ordered by the President to be there at the B.S.A.A. base. Why would lie about that? Between this and the general uneasiness Leon felt around Fowler, something wasn't right.

"Thank you for the update, Adam. I'll keep you informed as things develop from over here."

 _"You three watch yourselves, that's an order, Leon."_

"I will, Sir."

Leon ended the call and saw that Miko and Rafael had walked into the room. Bulkhead and Bumblebee, their guardians, noticed them almost right away.

"Hey, what are you two doin' here?" Bulkhead asked.

Miko seemed confused by the question.

"What are we doing here? You sent for us." She answered.

"No, we didn't." Bulkhead replied.

Now they both look confused. Bumblebee joined the conversation with those strange noises he communicated with that only the Autobots and Rafael could understand. Miko looked to Rafael for a translation.

"He said that they knew we were with Jack and wanted to leave the three of us alone."

Miko looked back to Bulkhead and Bumblebee, even more confused than before.

"But Fowler said you guys were looking for us." She said.

"What?" Bulkhead replied in his own confusion. "Why would he say that? We saw him last the same time you did."

Hearing this sounded an alarm in Leon's head and he knew that something was going on. That's the second lie he had caught Fowler in. But just before he could decide what to do, a loud explosion from somewhere off in the base shook the ground they stood on.

"What was that?!" Bulkhead yelled.

Chris pulled out his radio.

"What was that explosion?! Are we under attack?!"

 _"Negative, Commander. It came from one of the weapons storage. We don't know what caused it."_

Even though it wasn't an attack from the outside, Leon felt something wrong in the pit of his stomach. He turned to Miko and Rafael.

"Where's Fowler right now?" He asked them.

"Uh-he's with Jack." The startled child said. "He said he needed to talk to him alone."

Hearing that made Leon assume the absolute worst and his mind sprang into action. The agent looked to Chris and Optimus.

"We need to hurry!" He said with urgency.

"What's goin' on, Leon?!" Chris asked.

"I think Fowler is trying to take Jack out of the base."

Chris and the Autobots all became shocked to hear that, especially Arcee.

"Why would he do that?!" She asked.

"There's no time to speculate. We need to go now, before..." Leon began.

"Before they get to the ground bridge!" Optimus finished.

The Prime turned to his scout.

"Bumblebee, take the children to June and Jill and keep them safe." He ordered.

Bumblebee nodded and beeped in response before leading the two concerned children out of the room and down the hallway. Optimus, Chris, Leon, Arcee, and Bulkhead went the opposite direction and headed towards the main hall. They were met with Ratchet on the way.

"Ratchet, have you seen Agent Fowler and Jackson?" Optimus asked.

"I just passed them. What's going on? What was that explosion?" Ratchet replied.

"We do not know." Optimus answered. "But Jackson may be in danger."

With that said, Ratchet followed them to the main hall. Leon hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was. Fowler was a good man and a good agent who didn't deserve something like that. But if it was what he feared, then Jackson was in trouble and they needed to hurry before it was too late. But if it was indeed what he feared...then it was already too late for Fowler.

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Jack was running behind Fowler as instructed. He had no idea where the explosion happened or what was even happening. All he knew was was Fowler had told him which was "follow me".

"What's goin' on, Fowler?!" Jack asked in his panic. "What was that?!"

"I don't know, Jackson. We may be under attack." Fowler said a little too calmly.

Jack didn't have to guess who the attack might've been from.

"You mean, from Umbrella." He stated grimly.

"Could be. Let's hurry."

Jack looked behind him as he ran down the corridor, not even thinking of where he and Fowler were going. His thoughts were still with Miko, Rafael, and his mother. He didn't worry about Jill, Arcee, or the Autobots. He knew that they could take care of themselves, but his friends couldn't and neither could his mother in her condition. Eventually, they came to a stop and Jack saw that they were in the main hall, which wasn't deserted because of the many soldiers running through the area, towards where the explosion came from. But no one Jack could recognize were there. Fowler grabbed Jack by the arm and began pulling him towards the stairway to the platforms.

"C'mon, Jackson." He ordered.

"What's going on, Fowler?" Jack asked as he was led up the stairway. "What are we doing here?"

The way Fowler ignored him made Jack feel uncomfortable, but he chalked it up to just the situation affecting him. But then he saw that Fowler had gone to the ground bridge controls and he became confused.

"Fowler, what are you..."

"We need to get you out of here, Jack." Fowler interrupted him.

Jack almost didn't understand what Fowler was saying.

"Wait, what?"

"The base has clearly been attacked and if it's Umbrella, you can't be here."

There were so many things wrong with that statement and Jack felt something else wrong in his gut.

"B-But we don't even know if it _is_ Umbrella." He reasoned.

"We can't afford to wait and find out. We need to get you somewhere safe, right now."

"But what about Miko and Raf? There still out there."

"There safe." Fowler said a little impatiently. "They're with their Autobots."

"What about my Mom?" Jack followed. "We can't just leave her, we don't even know where she is and she's in a wheelchair."

"Your mother is with Optimus Prime and Arcee. She's safe too, Jackson." Fowler answered too quickly for Jack's comfort.

Jack took a step back when Fowler told him that. Now, he knew something wasn't right.

"How do you know she's with Optimus?" He asked cautiously.

"Because I saw them earlier." He answered.

That didn't make sense. Fowler said he had spoken with Optimus about taking Jack to see the President and claimed he was okay with it. He didn't mention his mother, who he would have also had to convince to let Jack leave the base. In fact, he had told Jack to find her so he could inform her himself. Jack had caught Fowler in a lie and it was now that he noticed the trouble he was having with the ground bridge controls, as if he had never used them before. Everything in him was telling him to run. Without question, Jack listened to his instincts. And without anymore hesitation, he made a beeline for the stairs.

"Jack!" Fowler called out as Jack jumped the steps three at a time to get away from Fowler.

The aging and overweight agent did his best to catch Jack, but the faster teen was able to make it to the ground level. Just as Fowler managed to make it down himself, Jack was already at the corridor. To his relief, Optimus and the others were there, along with Leon and Chris.

"Jackson, are you alright?!" Optimus asked with urgency.

But before Jack could answer, Fowler had caught up with him.

"Jackson, _why_ are you running from me?!" Fowler asked with no small amount of frustration as he grabbed him by the arm.

Jack turned to Fowler, trying to make sense of what was even happening.

"Agent Fowler." Leon said from where he was behind Jackson. "Let him go."

Upon noticing Leon and the Autobots, Jack saw Fowler's expression change. He was clearly unhappy with them being there.

"We're under attack." He began. "It's Umbrella, isn't it?"

"No." Chris answered. "Something caused an explosion in one of our weapons rooms. We don't know what it was."

"I see." Fowler answered almost in monotone.

"Agent Fowler." Optimus began. "Why are you here with Jackson?"

"My apologies, Optimus Prime. I heard the explosion and assumed the worst, taking what I thought was necessary action."

"You were attempting to leave with Jackson." Optimus stated as a fact and not a question.

"An act of poor judgement in hindsight." He replied.

"Jackson cannot leave the safety of this base unless absolutely necessary, as determined by us and Nurse Darby. Your actions could have had grave consequences."

"I'm aware, Optimus Prime. As I've said, my apologies."

Leon stepped forward.

"Why did you lie to the kids to get them away from Jack, Fowler?" He asked.

"What?" Fowler feigned.

"You told them that their guardians were looking for them. They weren't."

Arcee stepped forward, focusing on Jack, but casting a very hostile glare at Fowler. Bulkhead was next to her, doing the same.

"Perhaps, I made a mistake." Fowler answers.

"And why did you lie about being ordered to come here? President Benford says that you asked to come here and that _he_ suggested that you sit the rest of the mission out."

All of this was making Jack more worried, especially since Fowler hadn't let him go. The Agent's expression was becoming less friendly and he was not answering Leon's question.

"Agent Fowler, where were you going to take Jackson?" Optimus asked with clear distrust.

Fowler didn't answer that question either and it seemed like he didn't have too. None of the Autobots, nor the D.S.O agent or Chris held any trust in their eyes. Just as Jack was beginning to get scared, Fowler pulled him back and held him with his arm tightly over his chest. Before any of the others could make a move, Jack felt a gun go against his head.

"Don't." Fowler said too calmly.

They all stopped, but stood defensively.

"Agent Fowler?" Jack asked nervously.

"I won't kill him." He said as put the gun to Jack's shoulder. "But I can still hurt him."

"I knew we couldn't trust you!" Bulkhead yelled.

"What are you doing, Fowler?!" Chris demanded to know. "I thought you were on our side!"

"He's with Umbrella, Chris!" Arcee said as drew her blasters. "Let my partner go!"

"You fire on me, you kill both of us, so I'd put those away if I were you." Fowler answered.

Jack was as shocked at the rest of them. None of this made sense. Why now? Why would Fowler turn on them now? After all he went through, all the information he gave them, the risk he took to get it? It couldn't' have all been an act, could it?

"Agent Fowler!" Optimus started. "You cannot escape! You will release Jackson and you will surrender!"

"I will do no such thing, Optimus Prime."

"Fowler, think for a minute." Chris jumped. "You're not gonna make it to the ground bridge and you're not walking out the front gate holding a gun to Jack's head. We're in the middle of nowhere, meaning, you have nowhere to go."

"You can't stop, Umbrella, Agent Redfield. Wesker will have the boy."

"We shoulda' crushed you back at Omega One, you slaggin' traitor." Bulkhead said.

"Jack, it's gonna be okay." Arcee said. "We're not gonna let him take you."

Jack looked to Leon, who had been unnervingly quiet this whole time. He had been staring at Fowler with a knowing look. He held it for a few moments, before his expression became that of someone having to do something he didn't want to do.

"Don't look, Jackson." He said.

Quicker than Jack or Chris could follow, Leon drew his weapon and aimed straight at Fowler's head from what Jack could see.

"I wouldn't, Agent Kennedy." Fowler said. "This gun is loaded with hollow points and I _will_ maim this boy. Put. the gun. down."

Leon didn't say anything. He kept his aim ever so steady as he looked on to Fowler with what appeared to be a hint of sadness.

"If you can hear me in there, Agent Fowler..." He said solemnly. "This isn't your fault...I'm sorry."

A micro-second later, Leon let off a shot that hit Fowler right in the head. He jerked back before dropping like he was made of stone, freeing Jackson from his hold. Chris quickly reached and pulled him to safety.

"Jack, are you okay?" He asked quickly.

Jack wasn't even looking at him. He was still fixed on Fowler, who lied motionless on the floor. He was dead. Agent Fowler, the very same man who they had snuck aboard the Nemesis to rescue from Starscream had been shot in the head and killed mere inches away from him...and Jack didn't know why.

"Jackson." Optimus voice managed to reach him. "Are you unharmed?"

Jack looked to Optimus.

"He's dead." Jack said with a quivering.

"Yes...I am sorry you had to witness it." Optimus said.

"But...But he was with us...He was helping us. Why did he-Why did he turn on us like this?"

"I do not know, Jackson...Perhaps I made the wrong decision when I allowed him to leave Omega One after we had rescued you from Wesker."

But that wasn't enough for Jack. He needed to make sense of this.

"C'mon, Partner." Arcee had crouched down to say and she placed her servo on his back. "Let's find your Mom and make sure she's okay. We'll figure this out together."

Jack looked to Leon who was still watching Fowler, as if waiting for something. He knew what was going on and he wanted answers. But just as he was about to take the first step towards the blonde agent.

"Nice shot, Agent Kennedy."

Everyone turned to the voice they had just heard and to all except Leon's horror, Agent Fowler stood up, still bleeding from his head shot wound.

"Expected nothing less from the one who saved the President's daughters."

"What the frag?!" Bulkhead shouted.

"Shit, he's a zombie!" Chris stated as he drew his weapon.

"No, he's not." Leon corrected "That's not the T-Virus."

Agent Kennedy then raised his weapon and took aim at Fowler's head once again.

"That's the Plaga parasite."

"The what?!" Arcee shouted.

Before any more questions could be asked or answers given, Fowler went for his gun on the ground. Almost like a reflex, Leon shot him in the head again, this time going straight out the back. But Fowler did not fall. None of the others could believe what they were seeing. It was as if Fowler was incapable of feeling pain. One would think that it wasn't his head controlling his body. He rushed at Leon and although the skilled agent let off another shot into Fowler's face, the older liaison closed the gap. But Leon was not taken down, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick that impressed even Arcee. Hitting Fowler in his bullet riddled head, he was knocked back to the ground, nearly halfway to where he was just standing. As he stood up, Leon took aim once more and put one more bullet into Fowler's bloody head. Leon got the desired effect, even if it would horrify everyone else.

Fowler's head exploded in a burst of meat and blood. Jack looked away almost immediately, forcing the bile that he felt in his throat back down. It wasn't just because it was a gruesome thing to see, but it was someone he knew that it happened to. Jack was about to hunch over with his back to the bloody mess behind him, but that was stopped when he heard Chris yell in shock.

"What the hell?!"

Jack looked back and saw something so sickening, that "what the hell?!" wasn't a strong enough expression. This thing he was looking at, it looked like something out of H.R. Giger's nightmares. To Jack, it actually looked like one of those face huggers from Alien. It's wasn't as big as any B.O.W. he had seen before, but it was just as hideous, a pulsating mass of flesh and tentacles, it's longest tentacle bearing what looked like an organic scythe. It crawled from the cavity left from Fowler's head and ran for Leon with unnerving speed. Leon was prepared to shoot it dead as it was preparing to leap into his face. It got a mere inch off the ground before a blast of energon plasma propelled it backwards and threw it to the ground as a smoking hunk of shriveled and charred flesh. Jack looked up and saw that Optimus has taken the shot. The Prime lowered his blaster and shifted back into a servo. He then glanced at the headless corpse that was once William Fowler and closed his optics. Leon looked just as downtrodden, having been the one who was forced to kill him.

Fowler was indeed dead now and it was clear that his actions were not his own. Jack felt his chest tighten, the guilt of another dying because of him filling his heart. Once again, Umbrella had infected someone to get to him, just like his father. Arcee must've been able to read him because she placed her servo upon him in comfort.

"It's not your fault, Jack. Umbrella did this, not you."

Jack took several deep breaths and was able to calm himself, somewhat. Once he was able to stop shaking, he looked to Leon Kennedy.

"What did they do to him?" He asked.

Leon hadn't looked away from Fowler, stills staring at the man he had come to respect greatly.

"It's called the Las Plagas."

He placed his weapon back into his holster and walked over to Fowler's body, crouching over when he came to it.

"What's Las Plagas?" Jack asked.

Leon eyed a nearby tarp and went over to retrieve it, talking as he did.

"It's a parasite. It's not a virus, but it's just as bad."

Leon walked back over to Fowler and covered his body with the light blue tarp. No one else needed to see him that way, especially one the children.

"It's injected into the host as an egg. Once it hatches and matures, it begins to attach itself the the spinal cord and basically high-jacks the host's body. You lose all sense of will and control of yourself and the damned thing takes over. Once that happens, it's too late. All that's left to do is...put the host down."

Leon knelt over Fowler and bowed his head in respect, silently bidding farewell to his fellow Government agent. Jack couldn't believe what Leon had told him. Viruses weren't enough for Umbrella, apparently, and he knew it was them. They had gotten to Fowler somehow, just like he feared they would. Jack shut his eyes and looked away from him as he lied still beneath the tarp. He knew in his heart that Fowler wouldn't blame him. He had heard from Jill of how he stood tall against Arcee when he vowed to help the Autobots take Umbrella down. He made his choice, knowing something like this might happen. But still, Jack felt guilty. Fowler's intel was laid to waste by Wesker and now...he was too.

"We have a problem." Leon said suddenly.

Jack looked over to him to see him stand up just as suddenly, as if something had ust come to him.

"What's wrong, Kennedy?" Chris asked.

"Fowler was injected with a Subordinate Plaga." Leon said quickly. "They operate under the control of a Dominant Plaga injected in a separate host."

Leon sounded extremely alarmed which made Jack increasingly nervous.

"The dominant host can see what the subordinate can." Leon finished explaining.

It became clear to Jack and the others almost in an instant.

"Holy shit." Chris said.

"They know where we are." Leon said.

Optimus knew that panic was going to strike everyone, especially Jackson, so he went to take control of the situation. But before he could begin giving his orders, Chris' radio went off.

 _"Commander Redfield!"_ a panicked agent called from the other end.

"The is Commander Redfield, what's the problem?"

 _"Commander, three heavily armored vehicles have just broken through the gates and we think they're headed to the Autobot's hangar."_

Chris gripped his radio tightly.

"Hold them off as best you can. I'll mount a defense from here." He responded.

Chris then looked up to Optimus.

"It's has to be Umbrella. We know who they're here for." He said.

Optimus wasted no time in taking action

"Arcee." He commanded.

"Sir." Was her response.

"Take Jackson and find Bumblebee and Agent Valentine. The three of you must protect June and the children at any cost."

"Yes, Sir."

Arcee looked to Jackson, who looked back at her, trying to remain brave just as he did for Jill six years ago. She knelt down and looked him in his eye.

"They are not getting their hands on you, Jackson." She said firmly with her servo on his shoulder. "I'll protect you, I'll protect your mother, I'll protect Miko and Raf. I won't let any of you get hurt."

She put her other servo upon his other shoulder and held him firmly.

"Do you believe me?" She asked with hopeful optics.

Jack searched his soul for the same bravery that got him through Raccoon City. He looked at Arcee in her blue and pink optics, then to Chris, then to Bulkhead, then to Optimus. He held his gaze on Optimus, who returned a look of pure determination and reassurance. They wanted Jack to have faith in them, to not succumb to fear the way he did in Jasper. He looked back to Arcee, still waiting for his answer.

"I believe you, Arcee."

Arcee smiled hopefully and then transformed to get Jack away from the approaching conflict.

"We'll hold the line from here." Leon said as he joined the others with his weapon drawn.

"I'll raise Jackie and tell'em to get his aft over here, pronto." Bulkhead said.

Jack looked to Bulkhead, who shifted his blaster and his wrecking ball out.

"I'll look after Miko, Bulk." Arcee said.

"Thanks, Arcee. Jack, you three look out for each other, alright." Bulkhead said.

"I will, Bulkhead...I never thanked you for saving me in Ireland."

"And you never have to, kid, just get out of here. Your mom needs ya'."

Jack didn't want to leave them, but there was nothing he could do. He took another look at his friends, old and new, and readied himself to leave.

"Good luck, guys." He said, slight fear that he would never see them again.

"Jackson."

Jack looked back one more time to Optimus.

"We will find you when this is over. Be safe, my friend."

Jack felt something in his heart he hadn't felt since his father left him, something that made him feel guarded and watched over.

"You too, Optimus."

With those final words, Arcee rode off down the corridor with her partner while the others took their positions. Chris knew that Piers, Barry, and Sheva wouldn't be far behind. He had no idea where Josh was, but he knew where to come if something was going down. He wondered where Leon's partner was and hoped that she was okay and he was more than a little worried about Rebecca. But he wasn't worried about Jill. He never had to worry about his partner.

The sounds of approaching vehicles were heard from the outside. Suddenly, three gray, armored vehicles, pulled into the hangar and came to a sudden stop. Two of them spun to put the back doors facing the team. The doors flew open and three Tyrants that Chris hadn't seen before stomped down from the vehicles. They wore white coats and different colored goggles and from a distance, they might have almost passed for human. Three more exited the center vehicle that was facing forward and appeared to be guarding the unseen passengers in the front. Both doors opened and out stepped the driver and his passenger. The driver was some Umbrella agent Chris didn't know. But then he looked at the passenger and was shocked all the way down to the pit of his soul.

He had accepted it when Jill told him what she had heard in Tokyo. He mentally prepared himself for the inevitable moment when they would come face to face. But even after all that, he was still unprepared to see it for himself. Standing there, clad in all black and those goddamned sunglasses, was Albert Wesker. He strode past his Tyrant bodyguards without a fear in the world, not even of the Autobots. He stepped forward, front and center, withing range of a clear shot from any of them and they were all tempted to take it right then and there. The smug new leader of Umbrella glanced up at the Autobots, smiling in amusement at the pure hatred they all looked at him with. Then he looked to Chris, going back to a his neutral expression. How Chris never wanted to see this traitor again.

"Chris Redfield." He said in what sounding like intrigue. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Chris' blood was burning inside of him, his instincts compelling him to shoot Wesker right in his eye. He settled on drawing his Samurai's Edge Beretta, aiming for Wesker's right eye, just like the eye he took from Jack.

"Not long enough, you son of a bitch." He said with pure venom.

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Arcee stood facing the doorway with her blasters shifted and ready. Should something not human or Autobot come through that door, they were as good as dead. Bumblebee stood in front of the humans, his wrist blasters armed as well. Should anything get past Arcee, they'd have to get through him. He still blamed himself for not getting to Jack quickly enough. That wasn't going to happen again, to Jack, June, Jill, Miko, and most certainly not Raf.

Of the humans, Jill was in the front. She had her favorite type of M4 in her hands, a Beretta Px4 Storm on her hip, and a Milkor MGL Mk 1L grenade launcher on her back. Jack had told her what was happening, but she wasn't sure if it was Umbrella Ops or B.O.W.s or both. In any case, she would stand guard behind the Autobots and if for some reason they weren't enough, she was to get everyone behind her out of there and somewhere safe. She was prepared for anything, even to die. But she prayed it wouldn't come to that.

June was still in a wheelchair, but she wasn't unarmed. She knew that the stubby Mossberg 500 she held would destroy her ribs worse than they already were, but she didn't care. She'd cripple herself for life if that's what it took to protect her son.

And then there was Jack. Because he still had trouble with accuracy due to his eye, Jill had given him an MP5 to protect himself with. But he wasn't intending to protect just himself. He had Miko and Raf to look after...and he knew they were counting on him. Miko was right behind Jack, holding both his shoulders as she kept herself close. Raf was by her side, holding her at the waist. They were both shivering and scared, but they were putting their trust in Jack.

"Remember what we promised." Miko said. "No being a hero."

"No being a hero." Jack replied. "We stick together, no matter what."

Jack took a shaky breath as he gripped his weapon held to his side.

"It's gonna be alright, guys." He said both to his friends and himself. "The 'Bots got this."

But just as the room became as calm as it could possibly be, a loud crash was heard from somewhere close by.

"What was that?!" Miko cried out.

It sounded like a heavy crash, stone and metal together. But no one was going to leave the room to find out.

"Everyone stay calm." Jill said. "Whatever it was, if it comes in here, it's dead."

If the Autobots weren't there, the trio would've been far more scared than they were. But they needed to trust their guardians. This wasn't going to be Jasper all over again. The Autobots weren't gonna let that happen. That's what Jack kept repeating to himself mentally, anyway.

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It managed to use the chaos of Wesker's entrance to sneak in without raising too many pulses. The small group who had seen it hop the fences were killed the moment it got its hands of them. It was able to stay to the roofs of the hangars until it found who it was looking for. Its mission programming was set and clear, find Jackson Darby and eliminate everyone and everything around him. It wasn't to give chase to him once he was separated from the group, that was meant for another. Despite its new orders, remnants of its old programming still remained. As it rose from the rubble brought down from the ceiling it broke through, one guttural word was spoken from its deformed mouth.

 **"Stars."**

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 **I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I? Hear me out, hear me out. I have a excuse this time. I moved. Okay, okay, I know I used that excuse before but yeah, I moved out of my apartment and into a new place. I didn't go to a new state this time, but to a new city, and that's where my problems began. I was just about to finish this story when I moved and shut my internet off. Problem was, my old provider didn't have service in the new area I moved to, so I had to switch to my old provider before I moved from New Hampshire. Problem was, I didn't know I had an outstanding unpaid bill left over from them and I just went through what I had for the move. So it took a little while for me to save up the scratch to pay off my bill and set up a new connection. It took even longer for them to process the bill and get me set up in their system. I just got my internet up yesterday and now here we are, with a new Old Nightmare. I wish I could say I was writing while my internet was down, but I had also hurt my foot during the move and was in a lot of pain for the past few weeks. And since I have a phobia of taking meds, I chose to grin and bear the pain until my foot healed, which didn't put me in the mood to write. So yeah, I still apologize for taking so long. But I'm not dead and I'm back. So let's talk about the chapter.**

 **33 Chapters, that's how long I have waited to bring the big guy into the story. You thought I wouldn't bring the Nemesis into Old Nightmare? The guy's pretty much the mascot of the Resident Evil franchise. I'm surprised he was never a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom. Speaking of which, didn't Josh Keaton voice Spider-Man in that game? (Crossover brainstorm intensifies.)**

 **'Sigh'. Now for the downer of the chapter. Yes, I killed off Agent Fowler for real. I wanted there to be a real cost in this story that wasn't in the show and unfortunately, Fowler had to be the sacrificial lamb. But at least the Autobots know he didn't really betray them. There was a lot of fluff in this chapter, between Jack and Jill and Miko and Raf. It felt cruel for me to have those moments between them only to turn everything upside down with Fowler's death and Wesker bum-rushing the base. But it's gonna get worse before it gets better.**

 **Next chapter is gonna be a big one and it might even be two-parter. I don't know yet. But we basically have the Autobots vs the Ivan Tyrants, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Jill vs the Nemesis. And yes, Wesker will be demonstrating his T-Virus powers to Chris. How's he gonna react to that? I'm excited to get started. And don't worry, I have plans for the Decepticons in the future. But they won't be returning until the final act but they will be playing a big role when it comes to that.**

 **Anyway, I'm all moved in, my internet's up, my foots healed, and I'm ready to write. I will catch you homies on the flip side. Peace out.**


	34. Chapter 34

Barry, Sheva, Josh, Piers, Rebecca, and Helena had arrived before anything could go down. When they saw what had smashed through the gates of the base, they knew that they were in for a fight. Josh, Sheva, and Piers were all focused on the group of Tyrants that stood idle while the man in black addressed everyone else. But Rebecca and Barry were focused on the man in black himself.

Even though she had seen all manner of nightmares and monstrosities throughout her career, the sight of Albert Wesker frightened Rebecca. The last time she had seen him, alive anyway, he shot her in the chest with the intent to kill her. Only her vest and her intolerance to pain, which caused her to fall unconscious, protected her. She never wanted to see the man again, especially when she found out he was still alive. She had more than a few nightmares since Jill broke the news to everyone.

Barry, on the other hand, all he wanted to do was empty his revolver into the blonde bastard's head. He too feared Wesker, but not half as much as he hated him. This son of a bitch threatened his family, used them to make him turn on his two closest friends. He and Chris served together in the Air Force and Jill was under him when she was still a rookie at S.T.A.R.S. He never forgot their looks of betrayal when they learned of what he had done back in the mansion. And all the whisky in the world couldn't erase the things Wesker threatened to do to his wife, Kathy, or his daughter, Moira and Polly, if he didn't do everything he said. The only person who wanted Wesker dead more than Barry was probably June Darby.

"Well, isn't this quite the reunion." Wesker said as he focused on he three former S.T.A.R.S. teammates. "Though, I see that Jill Valentine isn't here. She's with the boy, isn't she?"

Optimus raised his blaster, causing all the Tyrants to take battle stances. Thankfully, he did not open fire, yet. The standoff remained silent for a time, but Chris asked the question everyone had been asking since the rescue mission.

"How the hell are you still alive, Wesker?"

Wesker smirked in response to the question.

"I'm afraid that's classified information of Umbrella, Officer Redfield."

"I'm not S.T.A.R.S. anymore. The RPD is gone, thanks to you and Umbrella. And you should be thankful Jill isn't here. She would've already blew your head off if she saw your damn mug again."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that, _Agent_ Redfield. Agent Fowler went into great detail of how much she cares for the boy."

"His name is Jackson Darby!" Chris Redfield shouted, partly because he knew why Wesker wouldn't say his name, but also because he mentioned Fowler. "He may be just specimen to you, but we're here to protect him."

"The boy is my property."

Bulkhead raised his blaster suddenly.

"No, he's not!" He shouted.

The fact that Wesker was unfazed by this angered all the Autobots and unnerved everyone else.

"Barry." Wesker said.

He was looking at the Autobots, but then turned to Barry.

"How's your family?"

Barry drew his revolver and came very close to letting off a shot.

"You son of a bitch!"

Chris grabbed his arm before he could shoot.

"Barry, no! You do that, those things'll tear us all apart." He said.

"You don't mention my family, you bastard! You hear me?!" Barry shouted.

"Stand down, Barry." Chris said.

Wesker found the whole thing amusing and laughed lightly in response.

"As entertaining this spectacle is, I'm afraid I don't have time to reminisce about the good old days. I'm here for the boy and I won't be leaving without him."

Optimus Prime stepped forward, calm as he could be. Everyone stepped out of his way and allowed him to stand in front of them. The Tyrants looked up at the red and blue giant, stoic as they always were.

"You have done enough harm to Jackson, Albert Wesker."

Wesker looked to the Prime, once again, unintimidated.

"Ah yes, the noble Optimus Prime, protecting the young Jackson Darby as a father protects his child. Is that how you see yourself, Optimus, the boy's father? Appropriate, I would say, considering what happened to his real father. I _will_ say you are far more brave than he ever was."

Optimus clenched his fist, but he was not going to let Wesker get to him.

"You are a monster, Wesker."

"I'm a visionary, Optimus Prime. I seek the ascension of man beyond the homo-sapien and refuse to allow the useless principle of morality to hold me back from achieving that goal. If that makes me a monster, so be it. I will be a superior monster, regardless."

"You will only bring about the extinction of the human race with the creatures you create.

"With the blood of Jackson Darby, those failed experiments will be a relic of the past."

"Those relics you speak of were once human beings who's lives you destroyed." Optimus said quickly with aggression. "Millions of have already been lost to your madness. You think that you alone can bring salvation to your planet through disregard for your brethren. I have seen the consequence of such arrogance. Cybertron was lost because of it. I can not allow you to bring the same fate to Earth, nor can I disregard the deaths and despair you have already caused, like Raccoon City, Jasper, Lisa Trevor, Joshua Darby."

Optimus Face became hardened, growing angrier as he listed the things Umbrella had done.

"And William Fowler." He said with clear anger. "You will answer for all of them."

Optimus raised his blaster and held it over Wesker, the end of the barrel glowing brighter as he did, but Wesker didn't seem to care at all. The Tyrants looked ready to move, but the Autobots already had they weapons armed, as did the B.S.A.A. Once Optimus blasted Wesker into nothingness, the battle would commence. Despite all this, Wesker seemed eager to get things started.

"I answer to no one." He said.

Optimus blasted down at Wesker and it seemed like it hit. Because of the close range of the blast, enough smoke was created to partially obscure the view of the Tyrants and Wesker's companion. The B.S.A.A. agents were nervous, expecting one of them to run into by one of the monstrous B.O.W.s. But to their surprise and confusion, the smoke cleared just enough to show that the Tyrants hadn't moved. Optimus looked down at his target and saw only a small crater where his blast had hit. Had he completely obliterated Wesker?

"I'm afraid your aim needs work."

The shocked Optimus looked to where Wesker's companion was standing and saw Wesker himself beside him. The Prime didn't know what to think, nor did the others. How did he manage to dodge the blast so quickly? Wesker and his partner stood side by side, the former taking a look at his B.O.W. bodyguards.

"Kill them all." He said.

And with that, the Tyrants went on the attack and the battle for Jackson Darby had begun.

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When it stepped into the room where they were all hiding in, they were all shocked, but for different reasons. For Jack and June, it was the shock of recognition of something they'd never wanted to see again. Bumblebee's shock was similar, since he believed it to be the same as the one that attacked him and Bulkhead, but it was drastically altered. For Jill, in particular, it was a nightmare reborn.

The Nemesis, or as Carlos once called it, the B.O.W. Terminator. Jill could never forget her persistent stalker from Raccoon City. It had hunted her halfway around the city, killed Brad, Mikhail, Carlos, and even zombies that didn't get out of its way. It was programmed to hunt down officers of S.T.A.R.S. to test its abilities, but set it sights on Jack and June when June had attempted to get it away from Jill with her shotgun. Jill thought she had killed it with the rail cannon, but either its remains were salvaged or a new one had been made. Either way, Jill was not happy about this reunion.

 **"Stars."** It growled.

Jill guessed that it hadn't had its old programming completely erased, but she figured that it was either there for Jack or to kill everyone around him. Everyone had their weapons aimed at it, waiting for it to make the first move. It took a moment for Jill to realize that it was armed. In fact, she didn't really notice until it raised its rocket launcher.

 **"Wait, How is it..."** Bumblebee began before the Nemesis fired a rocket.

The scout sprang into action, leaping forward and grabbing the rocket. Before it could explode, he threw it into the high ceiling, but that turned out to be a mistake. The explosion was loud enough to disorient the humans, and while the rubble didn't fall close enough to harm anyone, the room was filled with smoke and debris that obscured everyone's view, giving the Nemesis his cover.

They heard a monster roar before the heavy footsteps went into a run. Arcee heard something metal hitting something fleshy and saw a human agent hit the far wall hard enough to kill her. She focused on the ground to try and find the rampaging B.O.W., who had already killed another agent. Arcee saw that it was close enough to her pede that she was able to kick it back towards the doorway. The Nemesis flew back, but brought itself to a stop by grabbing onto the hard ground and sliding back on one knee. It rose slowly, its one eye fixed on Arcee. It registered her as a threat, growling in response.

Arcee aimed her blaster at it, but Bumblebee grabbed it and forced it back to her side.

 **"Don't! If it takes too much damage, it'll mutate and get stronger."**

"So how are we suppose to stop it?!" Arcee questioned in urgency.

The Nemesis roared again and began running towards Arcee. The femme retracted her blaster and drew her arm blades. She rushed to meet the Nemesis head on, but she made the mistake of thinking she was dealing with just another B.O.W.

The Nemesis jumped high enough into the air to go right over Arcee's helm and descend behind her. As it fell, it grabbed onto her winglets, bringing the femme down on her back with enough force to crack the concrete under her.

"Ugh!" Arcee grunted as she fell painfully.

"'Arcee!" Jack shouted.

Bumblebee ran for the Nemesis while it had its back turned, but it felt its approaching weight through the ground. It ripped off both of Arcee's winglets with next to no effort, causing another painful grunt from her, and flung them both at Bumblebee. One hit Bumblebee right in the chassis and the other in his face, forcing him to stagger back. With his balance now thrown off, the Nemesis leapt into his chassis and grabbed onto his breastplate. Holding itself up, it threw its weight to the side hard enough to bring Bumblebee down on his back with the Nemesis still on top of him. It locked its fist and smashed it into the center of Bumblebee's frame, who let out an electronic sound that Rafael knew indicated pain.

"'Bee." Raf said in fear.

Jill began firing at the Nemesis' back, which stopped him from assaulting Bumblebee any further, but it turned its attention to her. They met eye contact and Jill was brought back to the front of RPD Headquarters, where it had killed Brad right in front of her. This was the one creature that would not leave her nightmares as she grew harder and numb to Umbrella's abominations. The Nemesis stared back at her. Whether it was the same one from six years ago, or a copy of it with the same programming, it most certainly recognized her.

 **"Stars."**

Still standing on top of Bumblebee, it stood up and turned to completely face Jill. She saw the tentacles began protruding out of its right hand. It was already preparing to kill her or infect her. But then, it stopped and turned its head slightly to look at something behind her. She turned around and saw that it was looking at Jack. She turned back and raised her rifle, firing it into the Nemesis. But the bullets did little more than slow it down ever so slightly. Her grenade launcher would've been more effective, with with its reflexes, she couldn't risk hitting Bumblebee.

The Nemesis looked like it was about to sprint forwards and run through anyone standing between it and Jackson. Jill threw caution to the wind and let her M4 hang to her side as she pulled her Milkor GL from her back. The Nemesis broke stride for a moment, recognizing the threat of the weapon. Now it was focused back on Jill and knew it needed to eliminate her. Better for her to have its attention than Jack. The Nemesis growled lowly, before going on the attack.

Bumblebee's servo shot forward and grabbed it. He stood up and threw it through the wall by the entrance, getting it away from the humans. Thinking fast, the scout armed his blaster and shot at the wall behind him, creating a hole to the outside. He looked towards the humans and shouted something in beeps. Everyone looked to him in confusion, except Rafael.

"He said for us to get out of here." He yelled.

Bumblebee turned back to the Nemesis and waited for it to return. Raf, Jack and the others looked up at his back for a few moments before reluctantly following his command. Jack began pushing her mother through the opening while others followed. Raf stayed where he was for a few more seconds.

"Please, be careful, 'Bee." He said nervously.

Miko put her hands on Rafael's shoulders and led the young boy away with the others. Arcee had finally recovered from her take down and stood beside the scout. But Bumblebee felt she was needed elsewhere.

 **"Go with them, Arcee."**

Arcee looked at the scout incredulously.

"That thing is dangerous, 'Bee. We stand a better chance if we fight it together."

 **"They stand a better chance with an Autobot than without one."** Bumblebee replied.

Arcee was about to argue with him, but he was already looking at her with worried optics.

 **"I need someone to look after Rafael."** He said.

Arcee saw that he was worried, but it sill made sense for someone with her skill to take on this monster instead of him.

 **"I know you can keep them safe. I fought with something like this before, so I know what to do. But they can't understand me without Raf and that can get them killed. Please, Arcee."**

Arcee took in what Bumblebee was saying and it made a lot of sense. But she didn't want to leave him alone with that thing. They heard its throaty groan and looked to see it enter the room again. Arcee made a decision.

"I'll protect them, Bumblebee. Watch yourself."

Bumblebee nodded to her and took his stance as Arcee ran through the opening. The Nemesis scanned the room, no doubt looking for Jack. When it saw that it wasn't there, it turned its eye to Bumblebee. He was the primary threat and an obstruction in its path. The Nemesis intended to make short work of him and complete its mission. But then, it turned its attention away from Bumblebee.

 **"Stars."**

Bumblebee looked behind him and saw Jill and a few other B.S.A.A. agents behind them with their weapons drawn.

"Remember me, huh, ya' ugly bastard?" She said.

 **"Jill? What are you..."**

Jill didn't understand exactly what Bumblebee was saying, but she could figure out what he was probably asking.

"I fought this thing before and killed it. I know how to take it down. We can help you."

Bumblebee protested again, pointing back at the hole. Jill had a feeling that he was talking about the kids.

"If you're worried about the kids, remember that they're with Arcee. She can protect them better than I can. Besides, this thing still wants to kill me. I can use that to keep it away from Jack."

Bumblebee looked back to the Nemesis and it was indeed focused on Jill, despite her not being the biggest threat to it. Its tentacles were protruded again, still fixed to finish Jill. She needed to keep this things attention while the others got to safety. She killed it once, she could do it again.

"C'mon, big guy." She said as she raised her grenade launcher. "You want S.T.A.R.S., I'll give you S.T.A.R.S."

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Wesker was merely leaning on the side of his vehicle, amused at what was going on in front of him. Russell had gotten back into the vehicle where it was safe, monitoring the Nemesis' progress and waiting for the right moment to send in the G-Mutation. He glanced up through the window to see the battle waging. Like Wesker, he too found it amusing.

For the most part, the six Tyrants were focused on the three Autobots. But there were too many agents of the B.S.A.A. and the D.S.O. fighting back to ignore them. The team of humans, however, were only able to band together enough strength to hold two of the six Tyrants at bay.

Bulkhead knew better than to try and blast them to death. Maybe if there was only one and he and Optimus focused on it, it might've worked. But these seemed even deadlier and more skilled than the one from the Umbrella Base. He and Ratchet fought against one each, while two more were focused on Optimus while the other two were attacking the humans. With all the mayhem going on, no one was able to get close to Wesker.

Two were running like track stars in a straight shot for Optimus. Knowing that blasting them could trigger a transformation, the Prime had his wrist blades armed and intended to cut them up to incapacitate them. As they were within swinging distance of the Autobot leader's blades, one ran in front of the other and crouched down on one knee. The second Tyrant stepped on its back and launched himself at Optimus with its fist pulled back. Optimus swung one of his blades at the Tyrant in midair. However, the sword did not cut through it as he had hoped, as it managed to block the blade with it arm locked firmly against its head. Before the Tyrant was knocked back by the force of the attack, it quickly latched on to Optimus sword and held tightly.

Optimus then felt one of his legs give out from under him and he fell to his knee. The Tyrant still on the ground had run itself into Optimus' leg and pushed it inward. The Tyrant on his sword pulled itself onto the blade and began running along his arm until he got to Optimus helm. The Prime was caught completely off guard when he felt a its interlocked hands crack the side of his helm and nearly down him. He had to throw his servo to the ground to avoid falling to the floor. The Tyrant jumped off of Optimus and landed on the platform behind the battle going on.

Optimus turned around, still on the ground, with his blaster. But remembering the dangers of not having a kill shot, he stopped himself from firing. The ground Tyrant took this chance to jump up and pull Optimus' blaster down and away from its battle partner. The other Tyrant then leapt up and grabbed onto a higher platform above him. With one jerk of its weight, it ripped off large portion of the platform and let itself fall with it in its hands. Optimus was about to stand up when the Tyrant brought the platform down on top of his helm, downing him completely this time.

Optimus was disoriented and wasn't able to react right away to anything. The Tyrant standing on his neck jumped backwards and landed on one side of his upper chassis. The other jumped from the ground and landed on the opposite side. The two Tyrants then began to punch at Optimus chassis, creating dents and causing heavy damage. It didn't take long for him to realize what they were doing. They were trying to force his chassis open to get into his spark chamber.

Optimus quickly rolled over, throwing them off of him, and rolled into a standing position. The two Tyrants had landed on their feet and stood to face the Prime. He had underestimated the intelligence of these B.O.W.s. Not only were they controlled and strategic, unlike the many feral creatures he had fought before, they also knew how to take a Cybertronian down. Optimus knew how strong he was. The fact that two of these beings were giving him so much trouble made him fear for his teammates and for the humans.

Ratchet painfully hit his back on one of the support pillars of the hangar. If he had a functioning set of lungs like humans did, the wind would've been knocked right out of them. These creatures not only possessed incredible speed and agility for their size, but also incredible strength as one was able to punch Ratchet hard in his chassis.

The Tyrant was calm and emotionless, not snarling or hissing at him as any other B.O.W. would be. Try as he might, the medic had no luck in landing a single strike on it with his scalpels. With the creatures speed and Ratchet being so out of practice, it was able to dodge every one of his attacks. Perhaps, Ratchet should have been the one to take Jackson back to the others while Arcee tried her luck against this thing. Then again, if just one of these things was giving him so much trouble without the humans to worry about, he wouldn't be able to protect them if one had managed to get past the others. Ratchet stood straight and stared down the Tyrant, trying to figure out a method to kill the thing. Or at the very least, he could hold its attention until either Optimus or Bulkhead could deal with it.

Even with his experience with this type of B.O.W., Bulkhead was not getting the upper hand on the Tyrant. To the Wrecker's credit, he did have a plan. Shoot it down once with his blaster, just to immobilize for a brief moment. And in that moment, run up to it and crush the living daylights out of it with his wrecking ball like he did the Tyrant from the lab. It wasn't the most sophisticated plan, but it was still sound. The only problem was, this Tyrant was a lot faster than the other one.

It seemed like the Tyrant was able to dodge all of Bulkhead's blasts a split second before they could hit their mark. Not only that, but this one also moved around a lot more than the previous Tyrant, jumping from the ground to crates to platforms. It was literally running circles around Bulkhead.

The B.O.W. jumped behind a large crate and Bulkhead fired at it. The crate exploded into a cloud of smoke and charred splinters, but the Tyrant wasn't there. Bulkhead heard something above him. He looked up and saw a descending platform about to fall on his helm. Acting quickly, he blasted it and blew it to pieces. But through the smoke, the Tyrant descended as well, having been the one to drop the platform with its massive weight, and brought his locked fist down right where the platform would've landed. Bulkhead's frame shook from the blow to his helm, but was able to swat the Tyrant back and aim his blaster. But just as it had been since the battle began, the Tyrant dodged the blast.

Bulkhead followed its movements with his blaster and saw it run up to another crate, a metal one. Before he could take the shot, the Tyrant lifted the crate and threw it at Bulkhead. He managed to keep it from hitting him, knocking it away, but the Tyrant used the distraction to attack again. It was already airborne, mere feet behind the crate, and closed the gap. A hard right hook to Bulkhead's frame stumbled him back.

The Tyrant landed and stalked towards the dizzy Autobot, but Bulkhead regained his senses quick enough to kick it as it got closer. The Tyrant flew backwards, the landed on its feet, no problem. Bulkhead ran for it with his wrecking ball shifted, not noticing that the Tyrant had moved closer to a support beam. Once Bulkhead was close enough, it slammed its elbow into the beam and knocked it out from under the ceiling it was holding up. It got out the way quickly, but Bulkhead wasn't so lucky, as a section of the ceiling broke apart and rained down on top of him.

Bulkhead was brought down, but managed to get back up. The Tyrant, however, was already on the attack, throwing a piece of the ceiling at his face. Bulkhead was merely thrown off guard by the ceiling, but the Tyrant didn't waste the opening. It leapt forward and grabbed onto the top of Bulkhead's frame, just under his face with one hand. Its free hand balled up into a fist and began pounding Bulkhead one after the other in the face, driving him back with each punch.

Bulkhead ending up backing into another support beam, which thankfully, wasn't knocked over. But the Tyrant was still hanging onto him and threw its weight downward, bringing the Wrecker down with him. Bulkhead fell on his front side and looked up to see the Tyrant, ready to attack again. He quickly transformed and drove into it, pushing it back. He only got a few feet before the Tyrant slammed his palms against the grill and brought him to a stop. It then reached under the car and with seemingly no effort, lifted his left side up. With a powerful throw, Bulkhead was sent rolling over to the side until he landed wheels up. The next thing Bulkhead knew, the Tyrant ran itself into his side, sending rolling even further until he transformed again and fell on his hands and knees. He slowly got up and looked at the B.O.W. walking towards him. He didn't like the way things were going. The fraggers were even tougher than the ones from the Umbrella base. It hadn't even mutated yet and it was already kicking his aft.

With the Autobots dancing around with the other four Tyrants, the small army of humans had to watch where they ran on top of dodging the remaining two's brutal attacks. A few had taken up positions on the platforms by the controls, firing down on the pair of Tyrants. But neither the high calibers nor the lows could do anything more than to halt the Tyrants for seconds at a time. These things were absorbing bullets like nothing.

Two unlucky agents were killed on impact from one of the Tyrant's mighty fists. Their bodies were broken and and contorted. The same stoic Tyrant, wearing a pair of yellow goggles/shades took notice to a certain blonde agent who was standing not to far from it. Its next target acquired, it ran full force for Leon. Helena saw the thing ready to run through her partner and nearly panicked.

"Leon, what are you doing?!"

But the agent was as calm a breeze, standing his ground as the Tyrant got closer. In the split second before it could swing on him, Leon dove right under its fist and rolled past it into a crouch. He quickly turned with his VP70 pistol raised and waited for the Tyrant to face him. He smiled when he saw that the frag grenade he managed to snag onto its coat was still there. One well aimed shot and the thing literally blew up in the Tyrant's face. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt it, or cause it to mutate, but it slowed it down a little. Explosions and fire damaged seemed to be the main cause of mutations in these B.O.W.s, so from here on out, the options were to crush them or fill them with enough bullets to bring them down.

The Tyrant recovered from the small explosion and went back for Leon. The super agent did the same and was running towards it. Once again, Leon acted quickly and ducked under it. This time, he slid between its legs, rolling himself to face the Tyrant's back. He quickly pulled out a second pistol, a match for his first one, and began dual firing into the Tyrant. They did little to harm it and it still had its sights on Leon.

Leon's guns went dry and he knew he was going to have to dodge again.

"Leon!" He heard from behind him.

He dove to the side out of the way, giving Helena a chance to unload the Ithaca 37 she'd manage to get her hands on. The shots held the Tyrant back just long enough for several other D.S.O. and B.S.A.A. agents to draw its attention with various rifles and sub-machine guns. With bullets hitting it from nearly every direction, the Tyrant didn't know where to attack first, so it attacked at random. It ran at full speed blindly in the direction it was facing, which happened to be under the platforms where the children would usually spend their time that had become a nest for several agents. Without intending to, the Tyrant knocked out one of the main supports holding up the upper platforms, causing the front half to dip suddenly. Many of the shooters fell over the rails and landed painfully on the ground. One opened her eyes to see the collected Tyrant standing above her. She couldn't even manage a scream before its boot silenced her. Another close to it wasn't even on his hands and knees yet before he felt the grip of the Tyrant's hand on the back of his neck. He could've only felt the pain for a split second before his neck was snapped. A third tried to run away, which ended up a futile effort. The Tyrant grabbed hold of his vest and yanked him back, taking a firm hold of his head and twisting it off as easy as a bottle cap. Tossing both pieces of the human aside, the Tyrant ignored the fourth unconscious human behind him to focus on Leon, Helena, and about seven members of both organizations forming a line in front of him.

A round from Sheva's Heckler & Koch PSG1 managed to pull the attention of the Tyrant wearing red goggles/shades towards her and her position on top of a stack of empty energon cubes. But since the bullet did very little damage, she wondered if it had been a bad idea. Of course, it was coming for her, leaving her to fire more rounds into its chest and head. Each bullet managed to break its stride for a second or two, but it wasn't stopping.

It was about halfway towards her when Sheva saw something flew over it and land just a few feet in front of its path. It stopped to avoid what was obviously a grenade of some kind, but Sheva saw that it was a flash bang and quickly ducked behind the cubes. She heard the loud boom of the grenade and after the light died down, peeked out at the Tyrant. It was blinded, but it wasn't deterred to get to Sheva. The Agent quickly got out of the way of the oncoming monster and allowed it to run through the glass cubes and into the stone wall, smashing a layer of it. The Tyrant regained its sight and saw that Sheva was gone.

Several shots hit the Tyrant in the back and it turned to see Barry and Piers firing at it, Piers with a UMP9 and Barry with his Colt Python. Rather than turn to them, the Tyrant ran behind the numerous crates around the area to avoid the gunfire. Barry and Piers held back and waited for it to come back out into the. Suddenly, one of the crates flew forward, nearly hitting the two and forcing them away from each other. Once they were separated, the Tyrants chose to go after Barry. The veteran agent fired off what was left of his revolver, doing little to stop the Tyrant, and switched to his Beretta 92FS, which did even less.

But before the Tyrant could get to Barry, a round from a Cobray Street Sweeper blasted the side of the Tyrant's head and threw it off balances and into another pile of crates. Chris ran to Barry with the Street Sweeper and the two got away from the Tyrant before it could get back up. Rebecca had earlier spoke of an observation she had made as she watched the Tyrant's fighting to Chris, that when they take damage, they tend to act less coordinated and and tactical and behaved more like the previous models that they had been used to. Even their sophisticated programming had limits it seemed.

As Chris and Barry met up with Piers and Sheva a safe distance away from their Tyrant, Chris spared a look to Rebecca, who had take refuge with some of the injured agents away from the fighting, trying to heal them as best as she could. She herself was armed with a SIG-Sauer MPX and several flash-bangs should she find herself in any trouble, but so far, none of the Tyrants seemed interested in her.

Chris looked back to the Tyrant and saw that it was focusing back on him.

"Alright, guys." Chris began to his team. "You keep giving it the run around, your gonna wear it down and eventually it'll give out. Stay out of its reach and you guys should be good.

Sheva and Barry looked at Chris suspiciously, noting the way he was talking.

"What are you gonna do, Chris?" Sheva asked.

"Remember, no explosions or else it'll change." Chris answered before departing.

Despite their concern, the trio followed Chris' orders and remained focused on the Tyrant. Chris managed to sneak past the other five without getting their attention and get visual on the true target. There he was, sitting against one of the armored vehicles he bum rushed the base with, acting like he was at the movies. Wesker, unprotected and out in the open. One shot would end this right here. Umbrella would collapse without him and Jack would be safe. Chris checked the ammo of his shotgun and replaced the round he had used against the Tyrant.

Using the best of his stealth, he managed to sneak around behind the vehicles without being noticed. He made it to the middle vehicle where Wesker was standing with his back turned. Chris' adrenaline pumped with anger, but he kept himself in control. He quietly approached Wesker, gripping his weapon tightly. As he got closer, he remembered the names and faces of every member of S.T.A.R.S. Alpha and Bravo that had been killed in the mansion, all because of him, the countless horrors on innocent civilians because of him, the fate of Lisa Trevor because of him, Jasper being destroyed because of him, the trauma Jack had gone through because of him, the death of Fowler...because of this son of a bitch. One round to the head and his terror would be done with. Chris was right behind him when he raised his street sweeper.

"You are painfully predictable, Officer Redfield." Wesker said without turning around.

Chris was stunned for a second, but he wasn't about to let this chance slip away. He pulled the trigger and the shotgun went off, but it didn't hit Wesker. Instead, to Chris' utter disbelief, Wesker had moved faster than sight and dodged the shot. Worse yet, he moved himself backwards and grabbed on to Chris' weapon in a single motion. With a second motion, he drove his elbow into Chris' abdomen, painfully knocking the agent backwards, making him let go of his weapon.

Wesker tossed the weapon away and Chris went for his sidearm. Umbrella's leader allowed no such thing to happen. He turned around just fast enough to grab the Samurai's Edge as Chris raised it and twist it to the side, dislocating Chris' index finger. He then grabbed Chris by the throat and held him up with one hand, demonstrating to his former subordinate of his inhuman strength. Wesker tried his best not let the enjoyment of seeing Chris' shock appear on his face.

Wesker then slammed Chris against on the vehicles to his side before slamming him against the other one, denting the armor of both. He then turned and tossed Chris into the midst of the battle going on, just behind the boot of Ratchet's Tyrants. Said Tyrant turned and saw Chris behind him and lifted its boot to crush his skull.

"Stop!" Shouted Wesker.

Wesker walked out into the fight, standing in front of the vehicle.

"Officer Redfield is mine."

Wesker then removed his sunglasses to reveal his inhuman eyes.

"And once I kill you, Chris, Jill Valentine will be next."

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Bumblebee had been beeping something at her when she began firing explosive rounds at the Nemesis, but of course, Jill couldn't understand him. She knew that the explosives would eventually trigger his mutation, a defense mechanism in the customized Tyrant, but that would have to happen before it could be killed. So long as it didn't feed on any Tyrant bodies, it wouldn't be able to mutate into a massive tentacled organism. Through the cloud of smoke of her last projectile, the Nemesis stalked through like nobody's business, its one eye locked onto Jill.

 **"Stars."**

This was good. So long as it had Jill in its sights, it wasn't thinking about Jack. Two problems though, one was the amount of smoke building in the room the fight was happening in. Jill ran for the opening the others ran through, hoping that she could keep the Nemesis focus and not give it incentive to try and find Jack. The other problem, she was out of explosive rounds and June had her second best weapon.

"And none of you thought to grab a shotgun." She said to herself she ran outside along with Bumblebee.

Indeed, everyone had chosen to grab an assault rifle or an SMG for the close quarters, which might've seemed like a good idea at the time. But none of them expected the Nemesis to show up.

"You." Jill called to another agent. "Find another armory and get me more grenade rounds. We'll need'em."

Bumblebee immediately began protesting at Jill's command, but the agent followed her orders regardless of whatever he was saying. Jill looked up to the flailing Bumblebee, confusingly trying to make sense of what he was going on about.

 **"RAH!"**

The agent and the scout were interrupted the the sound and sight of the Nemesis running at them. Bumblebee jumped in front of Jill and then transformed, going full speed to run into the Nemesis. But the B.O.W. wasn't interested in Bumblebee and jumped into the air, going right over the yellow and black Camaro with ease. It landed in front of Jill and continued on its path. She and several agents opened fire on the Nemesis, but it absorbed them like a sponge.

It was right on Jill and raised its arm to swing at her, but Jill Valentine was no amateur, especially against this thing. She jumped back and narrowly avoiding its grab, but it went for her again. She dove under it, landing on her back and shooting at it. Again, it shrugged off the bullets like nothing. The Nemesis walked towards her as she stood up.

 **"Stars."**

"Ugh, I forgot how annoying that gets."

The Nemesis growled and went to run at her. It didn't see Bumblebee speeding towards it. The scout rammed it and carried it away from Jill. She looked to her agents and saw that one of them had an M4 with and M26 attachment.

"I need that weapon, Private." She said.

The agent made no qualms with swapping her weapon with her superior. Now Jill had something that could slow the bastard down. She raced to where Bumblebee and the Nemesis had gone, several agents following behind her.

Bumblebee had the Nemesis against his grill and over his hood. He had managed to put some distance between it and Jill. But the ride came to an abrupt end when the Nemesis punched Bumblebee in nose of his alt so hard, that he came to a sudden stop with enough force for his rear to come off the ground.

With Bumblebee stunned from the sudden punch and his alt now vertical, the Nemesis grabbed him by the roof, lifted him over its head, and tossed Bumblebee behind him. The Scout hit the ground and tumbled over and under until he came to a stop on his wheels. He transformed and was barely able to stand as the Nemesis approached.

Jill and her team had caught up with them and she got his attention to firing off her M4 at the Nemesis. This pulled his attention towards her and of course, it changed its directive. But Jill blasted it dead center with her M26, stopping it for a single second. In the second, she sprinted in another direction, causing the thing to chase her.

Bumblebee wasn't about to stand there and let Jill play tag with this monster. He stood up and chased after the Nemesis, who was giving chase to Jill. He caught up with it before it could notice him and grabbed him right off the ground. The Nemesis flew through the air and landed roughly, smashing the ground under him, but it did very little harm.

"'Bee." Jill called.

Bumblebee looked down and lowered his servo for Jill to climb onto. He held her in front of his chassis and allowed her to have an good view of the base. She saw that not too far away, there was something going on in the main hangar where the Autobots resided. Optimus and Chris were still going at it with whoever had burst through the gates.

She looked back down to where the Nemesis had landed, now standing and staring. Wasting no time, she aimed her rifle and starting shooting the Nemesis from her new bird's nest. To hers and Bumblebee's shock, it didn't just shrug off the bullets and run through them like it normally would. It actually crossed its armed and hunched down to shield itself. This meant that they had managed to weaken it between the two of them and Arcee. But it also meant that it would soon mutate in defense and become more dangerous. Jill's subordinate still hadn't come back with that grenade launcher.

Jill's rifle had run out of ammo and she was too far for her do anything with the M26. She changed her magazine and signaled Bumblebee to let her down. The scout reluctantly did so, but stayed behind her to protect her if need be. The other agents stayed within the area, scattered about to hit the Nemesis from multiple angles. The Nemesis took note of the cease fire and saw that Jill was right there. It went at it again, running for her as fast as it could. It got about halfway there.

"Hey, ugly!"

The Nemesis either didn't hear or pay any mind to whoever called him. But he couldn't ignore the blast of energon engulfed him from his side and propelled in the other direction. Bumblebee and Jill looked to where the blast came from and saw Wheeljack running from between two of the hangars towards the Nemesis.

"He goes for the kick!" Wheeljack jokingly shouted as he pulled his pede back.

With enough force that would've splattered a human, the Nemesis was kicked right into another hangar, smashing through the wall making a hole bigger than the B.O.W. itself.

"GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!" Wheeljack shouted triumphantly his servos in the air.

The hyped up Wrecker lowered his arms and wiped his nonexistent nose with his thumb, a smirk spread across his face. Bumblebee wasn't nearly as cheerful.

 **'What is that idiot, thinking?'** He thought. **'That blast could've triggered a mutation.'**

Jill, on the other hand shared the Wrecker's enthusiasm, waving to him from her spot.

"Way to go, Wheeljack." She shouted. "Now, blast it back to hell."

 **"What?!"** Bumblebee beep/shouted in response.

Wheeljack didn't need to be told twice. After quickly scanning to make sure there were no other heat signatures in the room, Wheeljack let of three more blasts into the hangar, pretty much blowing away and entire section of it. A smoke cloud filled the area, blinding everyone for a few moments. It eventually cleared enough for them to see the wreckage. There was flaming rubble surrounding the hangar and the area where Wheeljack had blasted was gone, not a single wall of the room standing.

 **"Are you two crazy?!"** Bumblebee cried.

Jill didn't respond, not even knowing that Bumblebee was saying to her and Wheeljack, but the latter looked at him confused. A large pile of rubble began shifting and the Nemesis rose from underneath it, damaged but still standing. Jill gripped her weapon, expecting another mutation. Bumblebee held his fists up, cursing himself for not having a melee weapon like everyone else. Wheeljack, while surprised that the thing was still standing, kept his stance firm and his blaster armed. But the Nemesis just stood up and didn't move. It remained motionless and straight, still as a statue.

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As the Tyrants fought against the Autobots and the B.S.A.A./D.S.O. agents, Russell remained with the vehicle with his portable console while Captain Wesker stood outside, enjoying the fight. He was focused more on the screen than he was on the battle going in in front of him. He could see the first person surveillance feed from the Nemesis-T Type II shifting back and forth between Jill Valentine and and the Autobot Bumblebee. There had been a flaw in the protocols that had been set. Knowing that Jill would be the one to protect Jackson Darby, Wesker had ordered the combat data from the Raccoon City Nemesis-T Type to by programmed into the second model. Unfortunately, it seemed that the mission programming from the data had also carried over and it kept prioritizing Agent Valentine over Jackson. Despite his many attempts to try and rewrite the programming, the Nemesis continued to ignore its mission. Jackson was already gone from the immediate area, but stealth surveillance hadn't reported seeing him leave the site. In order for the Nemesis to get back on track, it was going to have to complete its previous mission: Kill Jill Valentine. To do that, it was going to need an edge.

Russell pulled up a communication program on the console and sent a message to some nearby air stealth, waiting for orders.

[Weapons Drop Required At This Location]

He then sent the coordinates where the Nemesis currently was. A loud gunshot rang out very close to the vehicle and Russell looked out the passenger window to see Wesker holding onto Agent Redfield's Armsel Striker. He then struck Redfield and the two disappeared out of Russell's view. The vehicle was struck and rocked violently before he saw Agent Redfield be thrown into the middle of the battle. A Tyrant stopped before he could crush him and Wesker stepped forward to join the fight.

"Now, this should be interesting." Russell said to himself.

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As the program to kill everyone protecting Jackson Darby was being temporarily disabled, the Nemesis remained still. Jill was tempted to unload on it with her weapon, but she wasn't sure what it was doing and didn't risk it. Wheeljack and Bumblebee, meanwhile, were too busy arguing to decide their next move.

 **"Do you what'll happen if you keep blasting it like that?!"** Bumblebee yelled

"Yeah, it'll go down in a cloud of smoke. What's the problem?" Wheeljack answered.

 **"Bulkhead didn't tell you. Of course, he didn't tell you."**

"What's the big deal, 'Bee?"

 **"Last time me and Bulkhead tried to blast something like that away, it mutated into something worse. The slagging thing nearly ripped Bulk to scrap metal."**

Wheeljack was shocked to learn this and looked to Jill for answers.

"Is that true, Valentine?"

Jill was still staring at the Nemesis, trying to figure out what it was doing and what she should do next.

"What?" She said, suddenly snapping out of it.

"Does that thing become stronger when we use our blasters?"

Jill looked back at the Nemesis.

"Most T-Types, yes. Fire, explosions, from what I read in Chris' sister's report: falling into a slag vat, those all seem to trigger mutations in Tyrants, otherwise, they just go down and stop functioning. But this one is different. This one has a second mutation as a defense mechanism, it's basically a second level."

"What does that mean?" Wheeljack cautiously asked.

"It means that it's going to mutate once it takes too much damage, no matter how we inflict it. In other words, it's gonna get worse before it gets better."

Neither of the Autobots were thrilled to learn this, but no one knew this thing better than Jill. The Agent looked back to the both of them.

"So you two can starting blasting it anytime now." She said.

Knowing what they knew, there was no reason to hold back anymore. Wheeljack and Bumblebee shifted blasters out of each servo and took aim. But something caught their attention, something hovering in the air. Jill looked up with them and saw a stealth helicopter carrying something. She almost panicked at first, thinking it might've been another B.O.W. But the package was too small for that. The package was release and it turned out to be two packages that plummeted to the ground and landed right in front of the Nemesis. The B.O.W. finally began to move and walked towards one of the crates. Jill figured it out soon enough.

"Oh, crap." She said. "Wheels, 'Bee, blast the son of bitch, now!"

No other words were necessary as they both fired off at the Nemesis. Wheeljack aimed his shots at the Nemesis, but Bumblebee fired at the crates, knowing they could only be bad news. Smoke began clouding around the Nemesis and the pair were forced to hold their fire.

Jill waited anxiously, knowing that it wasn't enough to kill the Nemesis. She wondered where her subordinate was with those grenade rounds. Then again, she wasn't where she had been when she gave the order and was probably looking for her right now.

The Nemesis emerged from the smoke, damaged by neither down nor mutated. In each hand, it wielded a weapon, a high caliber mini-gun in its left hand and an rocket powered grenade in his right, along with several rockets on its back. The Nemesis stared down the Autobots, but then turned to Jill.

 **"Stars."**

It moved its mini gun and aimed right at her. Bumblebee sprang into action and shielded her from the ensuing hail of high caliber bullets in her direction. The bullets were powerful enough to be painful to him, though not enough to seriously harm him. Wheeljack aimed his blasters and fired off two energon blasts. Having become familiar with the blasters now, the Nemesis ran forwards and slipped between both of them easily. Once it was clear, it aimed its RPG and fired off a rocket that hit Wheeljack square in the chassis. Like the mini-gun, it wasn't enough to seriously hurt him, but it was enough to knock the metaphorical wind out of him. Wheeljack fell backwards and the Nemesis turned back to Jill, who was gone along with Bumblebee.

Jill was inside Bumblebee's alt, who was speeding away from the Tyrant at fast as he could.

"Not this way, Bumblebee." Jill said suddenly.

Bumblebee responding something she couldn't understood. She took it as a question and explained.

"The others went this way. We can't lead the Nemesis back to them."

Jill saw that they had made it back behind the hangar where the Nemesis came after them and her subordinate had returned with her explosive rounds.

"Stop, stop." She suddenly said.

Bumblebee came to a stop in front of the subordinate holding the grenade rounds. The scout opened his back door and allowed him in.

"I got the rounds, Sir." He said.

"Good job, Villar. Alright, now lets go deal with my stalker."

Bumblebee ignored his own reluctance and drove back to the Nemesis and Wheeljack while Jill reloaded her weapon. As they approached the battle, they saw that Wheeljack was actually put on the defensive. The Nemesis was dodging all of his blasts while returning fire with its mini-gun. It seemed to hold off on using its RPG unless it had to. Jill realized that this Nemesis was programmed to learn as well.

Several agents attempted to open fire on it, but the Nemesis swept the area with the mini-gun, hitting a few and forcing others to take cover. As it did that, it noticed Bumblebee driving towards it with Jill in the drivers seat. The Nemesis aimed its loaded RPG and was about to fire off a rocket at the yellow muscle car, but Jill beat it to the punch. Coming up from Bumblebee's sun roof, she let off one grenade round, stopping it from attacking. She fired another, then another, each forcing the Nemesis to step back. Having enough, it managed to fire its RPG at Bumblebee, forcing the scout hit the brakes and skid to his passengers side, farthest away from Jill and Agent Villar. The rocket exploded against Bumblebee's side, painfully stopping him. The Nemesis wasn't finished either, charging at Bumblebee and ramming itself into his side and causing him to spin out and come to a stop behind him.

The Nemesis turned with its mini gun ready to rip Jill into pieces once she stumbled out of Bumblebee's alt. The scout transformed and fell on one knee, but neither Jill nor her companion were with him. The Nemesis didn't see the two tuck and roll out of Bumblebee when the missile hit and move out of its eye sight. Now, it had its back turned to them with its the three missiles strapped to its back exposed and Jill still had five rounds left.

The grenade round hit the Nemesis in the back and the B.O.W. was eaten alive by the ensuing explosion. The force of it threw Jill and Agent Villar to the ground and forced Bumblebee and Wheeljack, who had recovered, to step back. Once again, a black cloud of smoke kept the Nemesis from being seen. But Jill knew what was waiting in the center of the smoke. She stood up and readied her grenade launcher. The smoke cleared enough for the Nemesis to come into view.

It was now hunched over on one knee, seemingly weak from the explosion. The top half of its coat was burned off, exposing more of its hideous body. Jill could see its muscles pulsating, signalling its transformation. It groaned loudly, when suddenly, several writing tentacles erupted from its body. longer ones protruded from its right hand, forming an organic lash. Now it could be taken down, but it was also much stronger and more aggressive than before. But Jill was ready for it.

"Alright, big boy, round two."

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Jackson Darby was spotted by the stealth chopper that had dropped the Nemesis' weapons. He was traveling with the the Autobot known as Arcee, his mother, and the two children from earlier. They were all a great distance away from the Nemesis, who had now taken its second form and was still battling Jill and two other Autobots. Even though Jackson was nowhere near any visible exits and there were several agents watching if he was, there was no telling if perhaps he was heading to a hidden exit somewhere in the base. The Nemesis was suppose to get Jackson alone so the G-Mutation could take care of him, but it seemed like the only option was for the G-Mutation deal with Arcee before it could get to the boy. Russell didn't want to deviate from his Captain's plan, but once again, he was force to make a judgement call. Russell sent another message to the outside forces watching the base.

[Release the G-Mutation]

After about seven or so minutes, Russell felt the Plaga inside of him connect with Joshua Darby. He began sending commands to the boy's father.

'Find your son, kill his protectors, bring him back to the others.'

Russell was about to let the G-Mutation act on its commands, but then, he remembered.

'When you have him, implant the embryo into his body, then bring him back.'

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Arcee led the group, looking for a safe place to hide the kids while she tried to contact Optimus to receive further orders. Despite the chaos around the base, the only action going on were the two battles with the Nemesis and whatever Optimus and the others were up against. Jill wanted to help them, but June and the kids were relying on her to keep them safe. She just hoped that her friends were alright, human and Autobot alike. That thing that ripped off her winglets was no joke. It was strong, stronger than anything of that size had any right to be.

The kids tried their best to remain strong, given the situation. June was working through her pain, keeping her eyes on her son in front of her, trying not to worry about Jill and that monster. Miko was pushing her while Rafael was glued to her hip. They made a promise to stick together and none of them were gonna break it. One creature was about to put that to the test.

From the shadows it watched them, sizing them up before preparing to attack. It waited until it got a good look at its intended victim. One of the humans stopped to look around for a moment, giving the incomplete mutation a good look at his face. That was him, Jackson Darby, the one the voiced compelled it to find, surrounded by people the voices told it to kill.

 _'There he is. Kill the Autobot and the two children. Spare the woman if you can, take her if possible, but bring Jackson Darby back. Bring him back with the embryo inside him.'_

And with that, the creature that was once Joshua Darby was driven by new instincts. It had its goal in mind and what it had to do to get it done. There was no will within the creature, no recognition of who the boy was. All there was inside of it was subdued aggression, instincts to kill, a desire to spread the virus, and commands that overtook all of them. Jack feared that his father might've survived the destruction of Jasper. While what has become of his body was still intact, the man once known as Joshua Darby was dead, all his memories gone with him. Sentiment was not going to save Jack from his father.

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 **Okay so...I've been M.I.A. for a while. When I started this chapter, I knew I was going to spend more time on it (longer than I usually go past my deadline). I wanted to put some extra time in the battles and try a recapture the first one I wrote way back in chapter 10 & 11\. But when I first started writing, I did what I've been doing during the last few updates I put up, I rushed it. I've been noticing that in Old Nightmare, A Shard of Glass, and The Sad Man. The end of my chapters are starting to feel rushed and this one seemed like it was going to be the same. So, I started from scratch and I took even more time to work on the fights and write it in sections. I know I've been doing this a lot, but I just want to put a good story that doesn't feel like it fizzles towards the end. Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait.**  
 **First, I want to address the Tyrants transformation. In the wiki, all Tyrants have a limiter that often gets destroyed and allows them to mutate into their second forms. I did not know this. I thought the limiter was exclusive to the Tyrant in Resident Evil Damnation. I always thought that Tyrants changed because of fire damage and explosions like in the game or in the Nemesis' case, when it takes too much damage.**  
 **This is only the first part of a two chapter battle. Normally, I would follow this with a chapter of ASOG, but I'm going to work on the second part and put that one out next and then get back to ASOG. Next chapter, we will see Wesker fighting the B.S.A.A. and Arcee going up against the G-Mutation. Of course, Jack has no idea that his father is still alive. You think he's gonna be able to hold it together to protect his mother and his friends?**  
 **Thank you for your patience and I hope the chapter was worth the wait. I'm gonna put a lot of effort into the next one as well. Hope you all enjoy it. My fellow Yanks, have a happy 4th. My international readers, enjoy life and family. I'll see you all next chapter.**


	35. Chapter 35

Most of the occupants of the base were securing perimeters and making sure that whatever was happening in two different locations was contained. That was the main goal of the B.S.A.A., containment, preventing another outbreak. Being located in some desert that Jack still didn't know where was on purpose so that if there was ever a B.O.W. attack, there would be time to warn another site to get there and stop the weapons from reaching civilization. For that reason, most of the agents of the B.S.A.A. were running past Arcee and the group to their posts, to follow procedure and contain the threat. Arcee, Jack, and the others, however, were still looking for a safe place to rest and figure out the next step.

Jack could hear the fighting behind him, blaster fire, gunfire, crashes, explosions. And every time he heard the fighting turn up a notch, he would look back and wonder if the others were alright. He was scared, there was no reason not to be. Umbrella was at their door step once again, Fowler was dead, more were sure to die, and he had no idea what Umbrella had up their sleeve. For them to pull a stunt like this meant that they were desperate and he had seen people do the unthinkable during desperate times. He feared that Fowler wouldn't be the only friend he would lose today, terrified to reunite with the others and learn that Chris or Rebecca or anyone else didn't make it. And even if everyone made it out alive, the base was compromised and they would have to run again. Jack didn't like that, having just gotten used to this place.

But Jack wasn't afraid for himself or his friends. Arcee was with them and he had faith in her. He had faith in all the Autobots, none more than Optimus. He knew that they would be alright. He knew that he, his mother, Miko, and Raf would be safe so long as they stuck together and let Arcee protect them. Things wouldn't be like they were in Jasper, where everyone was separated and afraid. But he worried about Jill and the others, because they would be fighting as well. He had faith in them, but he knew that they were far more vulnerable to whatever monsters they were fighting this time. But there was nothing he could do but hope that they would come out okay. After all, this was nothing they weren't use to.

Arcee raised her palm, signalling the party to wait. She peeked over passed a wall and saw another hangar that housed two air-crafts. From her location, she could see two opening clear through the building, but still blind spots she couldn't see. She checked for heat signatures and saw that there was no one inside.

"Alright, the hangars clear." She said. "Let's head in and lock it down. We'll catch our breaths and figure out our next move. Sound good?"

She looked back at the her group of uncertain companions who all seemed to agree with her. Arcee led them and they walked together towards the hangar, unaware of what was tailing them.

As they moved forward, Jack looked to his mother and friends. June gripped her shotgun as if she would drop dead if it slipped from her hands. She kept her head down, but Jack could see that she was trying to stay alert for anything that sounded inhuman or non-alien. He knew that she was exhausted because of her injuries, but she wouldn't allow herself to drift off. Miko was trying not to appear scared, but Jack could see it easily. He wished that Bulkhead was there to ease her fear, but the Wrecker was needed back at the main hangar. Jack then looked to Raf who stayed close by his side, walking with his head down. He was probably scared most of all, especially after Bumblebee stayed behind to fight the Nemesis. Jack placed his free hand on his shoulder, causing Raf to look up.

"Bumblebee and Jill can handle the Nemesis. Jill took one out back in Raccoon City without anyone's help. Now she's got the best back up she could hope for. It'll be okay, Raf."

Raf's worry eased a little, Jack could see, but he was still afraid for himself and the group.

"I'm scared, Jack." He said weakly.

"I know, so am I. But we've got Arcee with us and you know how tough she is. She's got this. We're gonna get out of here just like last time. It'll be okay, buddy."

Arcee looked back at her partner and Rafael, happy that he had such faith in her. This was the Jack she wanted to see, the one that stepped up and guided his friends.

"Look, whatever Umbrella brought with them to the base, we haven't been overrun by them. That means the 'Bots are keeping them under control." Jack continued.

Miko looked up to speak.

"How can be so sure, Jack? You didn't see what one of those things did to Bulkhead when they rescued you. Just 'cuz they're small doesn't mean they're weak. Even Arcee got hurt by that Licker thing."

"The 'Bots didn't know what they were up against then, now they do. Plus, Chris and the others are with them. They hunt these things down for a living. Look guys, everything's gonna be okay. Last was time was so bad because it wasn't just Umbrella we were dealing with, it was the Decepticons, and the Autobots couldn't get to us. The team is gonna drive Umbrella back and we're all gonna escape through the ground bridge to somewhere safe. Don't worry, okay? We're gonna get through this, all of us, together."

Jack's logic seemed to be enough for them right now and Arcee was glad that he could reassure them this way. Rafael, however, still seemed worried.

"Just don't forget, Jack, all of us have to _stay_ together."

Raf looked away before he continued.

"Don't go and do what you did back in Jasper, making that monster chase after you like that."

He looked back to Jackson, pleading with his eyes.

"Please."

Even though Jack didn't regret what he did, since it got his father away from Raf and Miko, he still hated that he scared Raf and Miko the way he did. Jack looked back to his mother, who was looking at him now, semi shocked, frightened, and sternly. No one must've told her what Jack had done before he came face to face with Joshua Darby. She too was pleading with Jack not to do something like that again with her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, guys." Jack said as he took Rafael's hand. "I'm not gonna break our promise."

Raf exhaled heavily, apparently happy with the answer. Arcee was just as happy, seeing how far Jack had come. But her joy was interrupted when she saw something moving in her peripheral. She scanned the area, trying to see more movement.

"Arcee?" Jack questioned.

Arcee replied by holding her palm up again.

"I saw movement."

Jack gripped his sub-machine gun, hoping he wouldn't have to use it.

"All of you stay close and behind me." Arcee ordered before shifting out her blasters.

The group began searching the rooftops, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever Arcee had seen. Jack was nervous as could be, but he willed himself to stay calm. He knew Arcee would protect them, but he was prepared to the do same if something got past her. The search stayed on for a few moments longer, when Arcee signaled them all to keep going behind her. Jack exhaled and lead the humans as he followed his partner...And that's when it made its move.

The G-Mutation ran out between two buildings without making any noticeable noise, not with all the explosions and gunfire. Only when it got closer to Miko and June did they hear its footsteps as it came up behind them. But when they turned to see it, it jumped suddenly and went right over them, too fast to be able see it clearly. All they saw after that was it descending upon Arcee in front of them.

"Arcee, look out!" Jack shout.

Arcee didn't turn fast enough and felt a large talon tear into her shoulder. She cried out in pain and nearly fell forward. She managed to reach over her shoulder and grab hold of this new B.O.W. that had hooked itself into her frame, but the slagging thing wasn't letting go. Arcee tried to shake it off, throwing her weight around and slamming herself into a building, but the thing wasn't coming loose. Jack couldn't really see the monster clearly, seeing only a mass of dark flesh and a large claw. It didn't seem like any other B.O.W. he had seen before. Then again, what kind of monster it was wasn't really important. Jack raised his weapon and was going to try and get it off of Arcee. Before he could shoot at it and get its attention, Arcee managed to pry it loose and slam it on its back into the ground below her. She looked down to see the disgusting thing more clearly.

Jack kept his distance, but he looked past Arcee to try and see if she had done any real damage to it. He saw the monster begin to rise out of the small crater it created, not really able to make it out. Without warning, Arcee's leg quickly moved in front of him, obscuring his view. He looked up to see her looking back at him.

"Get in that building, now!" She said with urgency.

She had pointed to the building right next to them. Jack looked at her with confusion, but she left no room to argue.

"Do what I say and go, Jack!" She yelled.

Jack didn't hesitate any longer and did what he was told. He ran to mother and began pushing her into the building while Raf and Miko followed. Almost immediately, Arcee began shooting at the B.O.W., managing to hit it a few times and push it back. All it took was a single moment for Jack to see if she would be alright at the door before she looked back again.

"GO!" She yelled one more time.

Jack pushed his mother into the building and shut the door behind him. He quickly dropped the door bar and began searching for another place for them to hide together. As he did, questions were buzzing in his head. What was going on with Arcee? Sure, she was injured and alone and obviously wanted to keep him and the others safe, but the way she yelled at them to go, that felt odd to Jack. Something about that B.O.W. had really scared her and Jack was afraid to think of what it was. As he searched for some safe refuge within the building, he prayed that Arcee would be alright.

As Arcee did her best to keep the monster at bay, the one question she kept asking herself was how? How did it survive? The B.O.W. wasn't exactly the way Ratchet had described it, much different in more ways than one. And because she had never seen Jack's father, she had no idea if it was his face in its chest. But the fact that it had a human face, as well as the giant eye on its shoulder, Arcee knew what it was and she didn't want to take the chance. And if it was indeed a G-Mutation and Jack's father, she also knew why it was there and what it wanted to do. That was one reason she sent Jack away while she dealt with it. The other reason was so that Jack wouldn't see it, wouldn't see him.

She would never forget how Jack was when they escaped to the B.S.A.A. base. As much as she wished they could both forget, she remembered how broken he was when he got out of Ratchet's alt, afraid to even look at anyone. The sound of his voice when he cried out what he had seen back at the Autobot base would haunt her forever. The days that followed were some of the worst of her life, when she was afraid to leave him alone, thinking he might kill himself. He even gave Optimus the Key to Vector Sigma back and begged him to kill his father if he had somehow survived. But Arcee didn't give up on him and she managed to walk him through the trauma he had been through. He had come so far since that horrible day and he was just beginning to heal. If he saw this monster before her, if he knew his father was still alive, he would fall right back down to the bottom. And this time, the fall might break him completely. Arcee wasn't going to let that happen. She needed to kill this thing before Jack could see it. She needed to keep it away from Jack before it could implant its embryo inside his body.

"I know you're only doing this because of the G-Virus." She said to the beast with her blasters raised. "But I can't let you hurt Jack again."

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Chris flew backwards and hit his back painfully against a support beam. Before he could even fall forward, Wesker appeared in front of him, his fist slamming into Chris' gut, holding against the beam. The wind was knocked out of the B.S.A.A. Commander and he spit up a little blood. Chris managed to look up into Wesker's eyes. It was obvious that Wesker had undergone some sort of change, but the red glow of his eyes showed a more visual change as well as physical.

"What is this? What did you..." Chris was barely able to ask.

"This, Officer Redfield, is evolution."

Wesker then delivered a hay-maker into Chris' face which threw him to the side and on the ground. Wesker kicked him while he was down, sending him across the floor and into a crate. Chris pulled his Beretta and fired several shots at Wesker, only for him to flash step from side to side, seemingly without moving a muscle, and dodging each shot. Chris didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he was in trouble. Wesker then sped up to him and lifted him to his feet by his neck. Once he was standing, the Captain began throwing body and face shots at Chris, connecting each hit.

Grabbing Chris by the collars, he lifted him up and threw him over his shoulder a good distance. Chris struggled to get back up, but Wesker had already run up and met his chin with his boot. Before Chris could even fall down, Wesker spun around and kicked him in the ribs with enough force to send him flying back again. Chris landed on his back, coughing up more blood. He knew that some of his ribs were broken, which was going to slow him down a lot.

Wesker chose to walk over to Chris, ignoring the other battles going on around him. Chris could barely sit up, holding his side in pain. Breathing was difficult for him with his broken ribs and he knew his internal injuries were life threatening and would only get worse with every hit he took. To make things even worse, he had dropped his gun when Wesker threw him.

In pure desperation, the Commander forced himself to stand up and draw his knife that he kept strapped to his vest. Wesker stopped at the sheer audacity of that act.

"You cannot be serious." He said incredulously. "Has that ever worked for anyone before?"

"After the mansion incident...I learned to make it work. Let's go, you two-faced rat bastard."

To entertain himself, Wesker chose not to use his enhanced abilities for the time being. He approached Chris calmly, his defenses down. When he got close, Chris swiped forward, causing Wesker to pull back. This amused him. Chris swiped again and Wesker reacted the same. Then, Chris lunged forward and slashed downward at Wesker, only to miss again and attempted to swing his knife back and catch him. Wesker was dodging his blade as easy as if it were a paper airplane coming his way. With his broken ribs, Chris couldn't attack him with the speed he needed. He continued to try and cut Wesker and eventually, Wesker grew bored.

Holding his knife upside down, Chris swiped at Wesker's face, but he didn't dodge this time. Instead, he blocked the attack, stopping Chris as the wrist with his own, the blade an inch from his face. Chris reacted by using his other hand to punch Wesker in this stomach, which caught him off guard and did little more than distract him. Chris was able to pull his wrist away and slash downward, cutting Wesker in the arm. He didn't like that.

Chris went from a straight stab, but Wesker grabbed him by the wrist and twisted his arm painfully, forcing him to hunch forward. Wesker then took the knife out of his hand and slammed it down into his back. Chris released a growling cry of pain just before Wesker kicked his feet out from under him, dropping him on his front side.

"That will be the only wound that you inflict on me, Officer Redfield." Wesker calmly said.

Wesker brought his foot down on top of the knife handle. The blade was already up to the hilt in Chris' back, but Wesker was now pressing the hilt against his bleeding flesh.

"I must say, Chris, this was disappointing. I expected more from you."

"Go to hell." Chris responded through the pain.

"What a poor choice of final words. Good bye, Chris Redfield."

Wesker then heard a loud bang behind him and his body jerked forwards as a high caliber bullet tore through his chest. He felt the tiniest sensation of pain, but was annoyed more than anything else. He looked behind him and saw Barry Burton with his oversized revolver in his hand.

"Ah yes, Officer Burton."

With blinding speed, Wesker ran up to Barry, dodging the three bullets fired at him and stopped in front of him. Wesker grabbed his by his wrist and painfully forced the gun away from him. He then kicked his leg out, forcing him on one knee. Still holding Barry's wrist, which still held the revolver, Wesker forced Barry's arm back and made it so that he was aiming the gun at his own head.

"Know that I'm going to find your family and what I do to them will make the experiments on Lisa Trevor seem merciful."

"Stay away from them, Wesker." Barry growled.

"This is your doing, Barry. You've sealed their fate by going against me."

Out of nowhere, a small knife came flying at Wesker and planted right into the back of his wrist, forcing him to let go of Barry. He turned to see Leon charging towards him, firing his two pistols as he did. Wesker was caught off guard again and each of the shots caught him. But to Leon's shock, none of them were putting him down, not even the chest shots. Leon got close enough that he could jump up and spin kick Wesker dead in his chest, sending him tumbling backwards. Before he could strike back, Leon threw a grenade at his feet and got himself and Barry clear of the blast. Wesker reacted quick enough to jump back and escape the explosion, but Sheva was already perched on a crate with her Dragunov.

Wesker felt a rifle round throw him back as it ripped through his chest. He felt another in his chest and one in his neck. Each round pushed him back, but he remained standing. Sheva could only stare at him in shock. Wesker looked up at her, his face anything but amused. Setting his sights on Sheva, he ran for the crate she was standing on, demonstrating his inhuman speed, once again. Sheva was not quick enough to react as he closed the distance in a matter of seconds. But just as he was about to leap onto the crate in one shot, he was stopped by the corpse of a Tyrant landing in front of him. Wesker took a moment to look around and see what was going on.

The Tyrant had apparently been crushed and beaten into non-function. The three Autobots had somehow managed to attract the attention of all the Tyrants which allowed the B.S.A.A. and D.S.O. to focus on him. The medic was still struggling with one, while the Wrecker was trying to hold his own against two. The Prime was still dealing with two himself, but Wesker could see the bits of blood on his frame and concluded that he was the one that killed the sixth. It seemed that the latter of the two Autobots had grown familiar with the Tyrants combat and were beginning to gain the upper hand.

Wesker wasn't happy about this situation. If they managed to destroy his Tyrants, then he would have nothing to stop them with. The human element was already giving him enough trouble. He needed to tip the scales back in his favor. His mind was already working on a plan.

"Wesker."

The voice of Leon Kennedy got Wesker's attention. He looked at the damned super agent who stood beside a female agent he didn't recognize.

"That strength and speed of yours isn't natural. What have you done?"

Wesker still needed to work out his maneuver, but he was nothing if not a good multi-tasker. So he decided to entertain the agent while he thought up his next move.

"To put it simply, I've ascended, Agent Kennedy."

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The G-Mutation was fast, Arcee realized right away. As she fired at the approaching, clawed beast, Jack's father was able to dodge the hits as easily as she would from Decepticons. Luckily, she was fast too. Arcee was never ashamed nor burdened by her small size. It made it easier to dodge attacks and it made dumb opponents underestimate her, which she always took advantage of. When the G-Mutation lunged at her, she quickly swerved out of the way and let it fly past her, leaving its back exposed. Arcee wasted no time in firing at its back before it even hit the ground. Three bast launched it forwards, certainly doing some damage. But the B.O.W. was quick to recover and move out of the way of the fourth oncoming blast and go after Arcee again.

"He moves like a human, like he has some form of strategy." Arcee noted.

Its size didn't slow it down at all, or make it less agile. It jumped onto the roof of another building and grabbed onto a piece of loose metal. In one motion, it ripped off a large sheet of the metal and then flung it straight at Arcee. The femme swatted the sheet metal away, but the G-Mutation jumped right behind it. She was barely able to move out the way and avoid being struck by its claw again. Instead, it lodged its claw into the wall of the building behind her. Arcee shifted her arm blade and went to hack off its claw, depriving it of its main weapon. The B.O.W., However, dislodged itself and fell the ground just as Arcee swung her blade, avoiding it completely and exposing her frame. It jumped straight into her midsection and ran its claw into her abdomen. Arcee gasped at the sudden pain of the strike, but the B.O.W. wasn't done. It pulled out its claw and then proceeded to stab Arcee several more times before she finally grabbed it and pulled it away from her and threw it in front of the building opposite of her.

The B.O.W. bounced off the brick wall and landed on its feet. Arcee raised her left blaster and proceeded to blast the scrap out of it, sending it through the doors and into the building. She allowed herself a moment to breath and fell back against the building behind her, falling to her knee. She clutched her wound, which was so painful it that it took the pain out of her previous wound. She struggled to fight through it, waiting for it to subside, even a little. This was going to slow her down.

She looked over to the building where the others ran into and used her sensors to detect their heat signatures. They were all safe and together in a small room, much to her relief. Arcee then heard loud footsteps and looked across to see the G-Mutation run along the roof of the opposite building towards her. It made a great leap for her helm, but she got out of the way just in time. But when it landed on the edge of the building, it turned around and slashed at her, cutting her in the face and causing her to pull back. In her stumble, it went for her helm again. But Arcee reacted quick enough to counter and grab it in mid-air. She then slammed it down into the ground and went to stomp the life out of it just as she did to one of Licker Betas from the Tokyo Lab. But once again, the B.O.W recovered too quick for her and moved out of the way of her pede. Once it came down, next to the G-Mutation, it swung its claw in full force into the back of Arcee's leg. The femme yelled in terrible pain as she fell to her other knee. Now, she would be limping at best, immobile at worst.

The G-Mutation then jumped onto her back. Arcee knew what was coming. Rather than try to shake it off like a bull in a rodeo, she reacted quick enough that when the B.O.W. went to stab her in the back again, she threw her right servo behind her and in front of its claw so that it got run through instead of her. Fighting through the pain, she pulled her servo back, with the G-Mutation still hanging by the claw. It pulled it out and landed in front of her. She worked up the strength to stand and kick it away from her, before falling back down because of her leg. But she shifted her other blaster and began to open fire on it again. She hit it about six times before it managed to get out of her line of fire and make a break for it into the building next to it.

It leaped through the window and Arcee followed its path with her blaster. She was tempted to just fire on the building to bring the whole thing down. But just as she was about to check her sensors to make sure there were no humans in it, she realized something.

"No." She gasped.

She quickly stood up and ran/limped to the building to find the monster's signature. She was careless to let this happen. How could she not have noticed when she kicked it. It had landed in front of the building where Jack and the others were hiding and now, it was in the building with them. Worse yet, the building had no entry for anything of her size, meaning she was going to have to knock a wall down to get to it. If she went after it, she could cause the whole structure to collapse and kill her friends. But she needed to take that risk. If it knew that Jack was in there...

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Jack, June, Miko, and Rafael had found a room to hide in until Arcee was done with the B.O.W. outside. It was a bit long, but narrow. Whatever it was meant for, it must have been appropriated for storage space as both the walls were lined with shelves that held ammo and first aid equipment. There was a small desk with a typewriter by the door and an empty chest box against the wall opposite of the door. All four of the occupants stayed on the far side of the room, as far from the door as they could. Jack sat on the floor, against the shelf with his SMG beside him. June sat across from him in her chair, focusing on the door and tightly gripping her shotgun. Jack and Rafael sat on the chest, huddled together as close as could be. Miko had her arm around Rafael who rested his head on her shoulder while he played with an ink ribbon he had found by the typewriter. It was obvious that everyone was worried about Arcee...and scared for each other.

June took a deep breath and released it before she looked to her son.

"Jack." She said.

Jack looked up at his mother, who was looking at something in Jack's lap. When the Nemesis had stormed their original refuge, Jack had managed to grab an "emergency side-arm" from one of the unfortunate agents caught in its path. It was a M8000 Cougar G, though, Jack didn't know that. He pulled it from his waistband and looked back to June in question. June motioned her head to the the children, specifically, Miko. Jack understood what she was telling him. Jack stood up and walked over to Miko, who looked at him when he was in front of her. She then looked to the pistol in his hand and wondered what he was going to do with it. He held it out to her, handle first for safety. She looked back up in confusion.

"Look...We're in this together like we promised." Jack began. "But if we somehow get separated, or if someone from Umbrella comes between us and gets in your way, I'd feel better knowing you could protect yourself...and him."

Miko looked back at the gun, nervous to even reach out and take it. But she took it nonetheless and held it with both hands to examine it. She clearly wasn't as comfortable with a gun as she was back at Omega One.

"The last time I held a gun was when I was about to do something really stupid..." She said.

She let her arms, and the gun in her hands, rest on her lap while she looked down in thought.

"I was gonna go after you to bring you back...Get you away from that mon...from the B.O.W...Before that, I was gonna run out and try and buy Raf some time to go hide from the Hunters...And before _that_...I was gonna practice so I could shoot the guy who took your eye out...I don't think I should have a gun. I always do stupid things when I hold one."

Jack knelt down in front of Miko and looked her in her eyes.

"This time, I won't let you do something stupid. I just want to make sure you and Raf are safe. Please, Miko, keep it handy, just in case."

Miko exhaled and reluctantly placed the handgun on her lap, putting her hand over it. She nodded in agreement, if only to make Jack happy.

"Thank you." Jack said.

Jack then took a seat against the shelves beside Miko, wondering about Jill and Arcee.

"Was it like this in Raccoon City?" Miko asked.

Jack looked back to her.

"Kinda...Me and Mom had to do this while Jill went to fight the Nemesis. I didn't want her to go, but...Barry was coming with the chopper and she knew it wouldn't let us leave. She had to go deal with it if we wanted to get out of the city. I was so scared that I'd never see her again...Mom said that when I got bit, she and Jill had to leave me in a patrol room while they went out to get the vaccine. I guess it was a good thing I was unconscious for that. No way I could've handled being alone while they went off to some hospital filled with Hunters."

"Can we not talk about that, please?" June said suddenly.

They all looked to her and saw that she wore an uneasy expression.

"I really don't want to remember that. I came way too close to losing you."

Jack felt bad for bringing up bad memories.

"Sorry, Mom."

June took a deep breath and kept looking at nothing. Jack could see that just remembering that night was sending her to a dark place. Now, Jack really regretted bringing it up. He walked over and sat down next to her chair. He reach over and touched her hand, which quickly took his own and held it tightly, but she did not seem any better.

Jack then did what she would do for him. He began to hum the old hymn she would sing to him. He was no singer and knew his voice wouldn't bring the comfort he'd hope for, so he hummed just loud enough for everyone to hear.

" _Hm-hm hmm hmm,_  
 _hm-hm hmm hmm,_  
 _hm-hm hmmmmm,_  
 _hm-hm hmmmmm_."

Miko and Raf looked up in confusion, wondering why Jack was humming, but he continued as he squeezed his mother's hand.

" _Hm-hm hmm hmm,_  
 _hm-hm hmm hmm,_  
 _hm-hm hmmmmm,_  
 _hm-hm-hm hmmmmm_."

" _Will the circle..._ "

Miko and Raf looked up again, this time in surprise, at June.

" _Be unbroken, By and by, by and by?_  
 _Is a better home awaiting,_  
 _In the sky, in the sky?_ "

Jill looked to her son, who was now smiling and still squeezing her hand. She could see that just hearing her sing was comforting to him. She looked at Miko and Raf, who both watched her closely, as if waiting for her to continue.

" _In the joyous days of childhood,_  
 _Oft they told of wondrous love,_  
 _Pointed to the dying Saviour._  
 _Now they dwell with Him above_."

Jack watched Miko and Raf, seeing that Raf wasn't breathing as heavy as he was before and Miko wasn't shaking as much. It was working. His mother's voice never failed to bring comfort. He looked back up at her and saw that she too was finding comfort in easing them all. That was his Mom, finding joy in helping others, a heart inside of her as big as Optimus Prime.

" _You remember songs of heaven,_  
 _which you sang with childish voice._  
 _Do you love the hymns they taught_..."

June stopped suddenly when she heard a sound from the fight outside a little closer than they were comfortable with. She and Jack both looked at the door, waiting to hear something else. Jack stood up, hoping it was Arcee and not the B.O.W. They then heard the sound of a shattering window, clearly coming from right outside. They all jumped or pulled back suddenly when they heard it. Jack quickly ran back to where he was first sitting and picked up his weapon. Miko fumbled with her new pistol and nervously held it in both hands, unable to even hold it up to aim.

"Jack." June called.

Jack ran over and adjusted June's chair to face the door. The two of them aimed their weapons at the door.

"Jack, if something comes through that door, you three have to get out of here...with or without me."

Jack didn't even take a second to consider it.

"Don't ask me to do that, Mom."

"I'm not asking."

"Neither am I."

"Jack, listen to me..."

A large crash was heard outside and the whole room shook.

"What was that?" Raf struggled to whisper.

Another crash and rumble was heard and felt, this was even bigger than the last. These were followed by a third set and June knew that the building was going to come down if this went on. But then, they heard a voice.

"Jack, June, Miko, Raf!"

It was Arcee, yelling for them on the outside.

"I can see you four! Get out of their, now!"

Jack grabbed his mothers chair and looked to his friends.

"C'mon, guys!"

Miko and Raf were behind him as he pushed his mother to the door. Jack moved around her and cautiously turned the handle to crack it. June kept her shotgun raised as Jack pushed the door open suddenly. When they looked out, they could see Arcee on the far side of the outer room, with her back to them, going against the B.O.W they couldn't see. She had knocked down a wall from outside and must've knocked down a few support beams in the struggle. She gave the quickest of glances behind her to see that they hadn't gone yet.

"Run!" She yelled.

Jack let his SMG hang from his shoulder as he pushed his mother, letting Miko and Raf run ahead of him.

"Oh no, you don't!" Jack heard Arcee yell.

He turned back for only a second, still unable to see what she was fighting. She must've felt him there because she yelled again without turning.

"I said run!"

Jack wasted no more time and followed behind Miko and Rafael to the outside. Meanwhile, the G-Mutation clawed at Arcee's chassis, forcing her back. It quickly rammed its shoulder into her, knocking her down. Arcee got back up to see it standing there, watching Jack and his mother running for their lives. It turned its attention back to Arcee, who already had her blade shifted. But when she went to strike it, she faltered due to the injury to her heel. The G-Mutation chose not to waste any more time on the femme and leaped onto the upper platforms and began making its way to the roof. It was going after Jack. Arcee struggled to stand back up. She needed to stop it, before it was too late.

The four ran down the roadway of the base, trying to put as much distance between them and whatever Arcee was fighting. Rafael begin to fall behind Miko and pretty soon, Jack. They all stopped as Jack went over to Raf. Jack knelt down to examine him.

"You feelin' alright, buddy?" He asked in concern.

Rafael's breathing was considerably heavy. All the running and the anxiety was taking a toll on him. The boy pulled out his inhaler and took a deep dose of it. Unfortunately, his inhaler wasn't going to ease his lungs right away and they were out in the open.

"Miko, grab my Mom." Jack said. "C'mon, Raf."

He led Rafael in between two barracks while Miko followed with June. They were about halfway into the space. Jack knelt down and placed his hands of Raf's shoulders, waiting for his breathing lighten. Raf took many deep breaths, slowly beginning to space them out as he calmed down.

"You, okay?" Jack asked.

"I'm just..." The exhausted boy began. "I want to get out of here."

"I know, Raf. But we gotta keep running. I just need you to hang in there for a little while longer. Okay?"

Raf was still breathing a bit heavier than normal, but he was calming down. He looked up to Jack, trying to be as brave as he was. He worked up the nerve to begin nodding his head.

"I'm okay." He said.

"You sure?" Jack asked.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm good."

"Jack, I need you to listen." June began.

Jack didn't give her the chance.

"Mom, don't you dare ask me to leave you behind."

"Jackson."

"I'm not leaving you." Jack cut her off. "This is the one time I'm disobeying you. I _won't_ leave you behind...You're half the reason I'm letting them make a vaccine from my blood. I'm not losing you."

June fixed her mouth the argue, but she couldn't get past the look in her son's eye. There was a look a pure determination, one that even her serious face wasn't goin to move. Jack was standing his ground, showing strength she had never seen before. Did he get that from Optimus?

"We're all getting out of this together. And after we do, you can ground me until I'm 50."

Jack didn't get that from her and he most certainly didn't get it from his father. This could only have been the influence of a Prime. And that same determination from Optimus that gave her hope, June could see it in him. It was having the same effect. When this was all over, she would make sure that he knew that he was worthy of the key Optimus had given him.

"Alright, Jack." She submitted. "We'll do it your way."

Jack exhaled, having successfully talked his mother down from staying behind. He felt Rafael grab his hand and looked down to see him breathing normally and looking at him with absolute trust. Miko walked up next to June, also looking to Jack for guidance.

"So what's the plan, Jack?" She asked.

Before he could say a word, he heard some dust and rubble falling behind him. He and Raf turned around and the four of them slowly looked up to see something on the ledge of the barracks. All of them froze in an instant as the barely visible creature stared down at them. When it dropped to the ground in front of them, they all pulled back in pure reaction.

Jack pulled Raf behind him and raised his weapon. June did as well, but she was behind Jack and Rafael, while the creature was still crouched down and not clear enough for a shot. Miko was too scared to do anything with her gun. In fact, she was too scared to even move. It finally stood tall, giving all of them a clear look at its horrifying form.

Jack quickly raised his gun.

"Stay back!" He yelled.

The creature took a single step forward and Jack fired his weapon. But the 9mm bullets did absolutely nothing to the monster. Now, Jack was really scared. He was boxed in. Miko and Raf could get away behind him and he was sure that one of them would take his mother with him, but once this monster went on the attack, he'd be the first to get hit. Now, he'd rather it'd be him than anyone else, but that did not mean he was ready to die. He wanted all of them to survive and he was not prepared to face his death, standing right in front of him.

"Jackson, move!" June yelled behind him.

Jack looked behind him. She had pulled Rafael safely behind her and was waiting for him to do the same. Of course, she'd be the one to try and be up front. She was absolutely prepared to die so they could escape, but he didn't want that. He'd already lost his father. Losing his mother was something he could not handle. So he remained where he was, not to disobey June, but because he was frozen with no idea what to do.

"Jack!" She yelled again.

Jack just stared at the B.O.W., wishing that Optimus was there. But that's when he realized that the creature had not attacked him yet. It was staring at him, as if unsure of what to do. It did so in the same way...

Jack's breath was halted in his lungs as his pupils shrunk in horror, because by this point, he had noticed the face in the right side of its chest, looking as if a person was being absorbed into the monster's body.

"No." Jack said in quiet panic. "No, you can't be...Y-you should've died in Jasper."

Jack was gasping in panic, a hurricane of emotions tearing him apart, just as it had done before. He was breaking down again.

" _Dad_?" The teen whimpered as tears began to fall. " _Dad, is that really you_?"

The monster did not respond.

" _Don't...Don't you know me_? _I'm your son_."

He was desperate, desperate to get even the slightest hint that his father was somewhere in there. But there was no such response to show it so. The creature took one step forward...and then Jack felt himself pushed to the floor from behind. He hit the ground hard enough to shake some sense back into him.

"Cover your ears, Jack!" He heard the voice of his mother.

He glanced behind him and saw her on top of him, gritting her teeth from the pain of forcing herself out of her chair and throwing herself at Jack. The fall to the ground was sure to have worsened her injuries. Nonetheless, she brought herself up on her elbows and fired her Mossberg at Joshua Darby, going for the eye in its shoulder. This managed to push it back but June didn't let up. She fired again into its torso, causing to step back once more. She fire again and again. The shotgun was having more affect on it than Jack's weapon. But with each shot June took, she tried to stifle a cry of pain. The shotgun was putting strain on her body.

"Mom, stop!" Jack yelled.

"Stay down, Jackson!" She replied.

She fired more rounds, each pushing the B.O.W. farther back, almost out into the open. Jack felt drops of sweat on the back of his head from his mother. The strain was becoming too much for her. June aimed her weapon again, this time, pointing at the face in its chest. She thought that it might've been another weak point, perhaps a second brain. That was the main reason. This was her ex-husband trying to get to her son. She still could not forgive him betraying Jackson and selling him out to Umbrella, setting this whole nightmare in motion. June wanted nothing more than to kill this thing that was no longer a man, for the sake of her son. But she pulled the trigger and heard only a click. She was empty. Worse, she was holding her son down and didn't have the strength to get up. In her desperate action to protect him, she damned them both. Joshua began walking back to them, never looking away from his ex-wife and son.

A gun went off and hit it in its enlarged eye. It was, once again, forced to step back, as the bullet was high caliber. It looked to the source but was met with two more, only one hitting it the the eye. It caught sight of its attacker and there Miko was, standing with her pistol raised and absolute terror in her eyes. This was pure desperation on her end, a panicked attempt to save the life of her friend. But she knew what she had just done and what was going to happen. To make things worse, Raf was standing behind her. She had put him in danger as well.

The B.O.W. stared at Miko for a moment.

 _'You know what?'_ It heard a voice say. _'Kill the brats first.'_

It continued to move forward, now setting its gaze upon Miko and Rafael. Miko realized what was happening and lowered her weapon in fear. She, like Jack was earlier, was frozen in fear. But then the B.O.W. stopped for a moment. Miko couldn't even register this before a blast of energon blew the thing right out of the alley. She turned to see a battered and ripped up Arcee standing outside the other end with a smoking blaster. Miko released her breath and was ready to hug the femme harder than she ever hugged Bulkhead even. But Arcee spared no time and slamming her fist into the wall, making a hole for them to escape through.

"Grab June and get out of here." She said.

Miko pulled herself from her frozen fear and motioned Rafael through the hole. She ran over to June and helped her off of Jack and into her seat. Jack stood up and looked at the downed B.O.W., his father.

"Jack." Miko called. "We gotta go."

But Jack couldn't look away from his father. Miko grabbed his arm and got his attention.

"C'mon, Jack, we need you. Don't crack up on us now." She pleaded.

Jack finally looked to her and saw that she was once again looking to him to lead them. With that alone, Jack took a shaky breath and worked up the nerve to keep it together. He went to his mother and began to push her while Miko went ahead of him. Before he went through the opening, Arcee stopped him.

"Jack." She said.

Jack looked at her and confirmed her fear of what happened. The B.O.W. was his father as she suspected and seeing him brought back some of the trauma he had gotten past. She needed to provide some reassurance.

"I'll do what needs to be done...I'll end your father's pain...I promise."

Jack wanted to thank her, but the fact was that she was going to kill his father. That wasn't something he wanted to think about. But Arcee could still see the gratefulness in his frightened eye. Jack opened mouth to say something, though he wasn't sure what. But they heard the sounds of an inhuman groan. Jack looked back to see his father getting back up.

"Go, Jack." Arcee said.

Jack looked at her once more.

"Be careful, Arcee."

Jack ran inside and Arcee could see Joshua's gaze follow him. She blasted him again to keep his attention of her. It got the desired results.

"Eyes of me, ugly." She said.

She was cut up, beaten, and limping, but she still had some fight in her. The G-Mutation was about to put that to the test as it ran for her with its claw ready to strike. She was prepared to meet it head on with both of her arm blades.

"COME ON!" She shouted as it got closer.

Inside of the building, the four humans could hear Arcee going at it with the G-Mutation just outside. She was holding its attention for the moment, but the group wasn't sure of what to do.

"What should we do now, Jack?" Rafael asked.

Jack, who was still coming down from his earlier shock, looked to the scared boy.

"Should we hide like before?"

Miko answered before Jack could.

"No, it saw us run in here. It'll come looking for us. We should keep running."

"But if it gets away from Arcee, there's no way we could outrun it." Rafael reasoned. "Maybe, we should run into another building without letting it see us and hide in there."

"But if he we hide, we could get cornered." Miko replied. "If it had found us in that room earlier, that's exactly what would've happened."

The two of them looked to Jack, hoping he had an answer.

"What do we do, Jack?" Miko asked.

Jack was trying to think of the best solution, but his mind was too clouded by the sight of the remnants of his father's face in the B.O.W.s chest. He was too scared to think clearly. Miko and Raf could see his hands were still shaking. June saw this too and reached out and grabbed one.

"Jack." She said, getting him to look at her. "It's gonna be okay. Arcee will set your father free like she said."

Jack could still hear the fighting, but it wasn't back out in the alley where they came from.

"I'm sorry you had to see that again, Jackson...And I know it's tearing you up inside. But we have to keep moving if we want to get out of here together. Please, be strong for us just a little while longer. I won't ask you to leave me behind again, I promise. But we have to go, now."

Jack closed his eyes and did his best to block out the image of the creature that his partner was fighting at the moment. He took a very deep breath and thought of the Key to Vector Sigma. He didn't have on him, but the thought of it gave him some of the strength he needed.

"I think we should go with Raf's plan." He said. "We can't run faster than that thing and we stand a better chance it we hide somewhere else. We just have to hope Arcee stops it and finds us."

Raf and Miko seemed satisfied with that response and were clearly happy that Jack was keeping it together. But just as they were about to walk back over to him and June, they felt something shaking above them. They all looked up, but didn't see anything. They felt the structure shifting and realized that Arcee was on the roof with the G-Mutation.

"We should leave, now." Jack said.

But then, something came crashing through the ceiling, big enough to bring a good chunk of it down. It hit several platforms and brought them down with it. The massive rubble was about to fall right on top of Jack and his mother. Thinking quickly, Jack pushed his mother's chair forward, getting her clear of the rubble and then, threw himself back to avoid it. The falling debris crashed to the ground, filling the building with a fog of dust.

Jack regained his senses from the fall and began to push himself onto his hands. Dust entered his lungs and began coughing to clear them. He looked around and realized that he could barely see more than a few feet in front of him.

"Jack! Jack, are you okay?!" He heard his mother calling from what sounded like another room.

Jack looked over his shoulder and saw that the debris had blocked off one side of the area from the other. He managed to find his feet and picked up his SMG. He stumbled to the wall of rubble and pushed against it to see how stable it was. It wasn't budging.

"Jack, answer me, please!" His mother yelled.

"I'm alright, Mom." He yelled.

"Thank God." She replied.

"Are _you_ okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Jackson, so are Miko and Raf."

"Listen." He said. "I'll meet you guys outside. I'm gonna around to the other side. Meet me in the opposite alley, okay?"

"Are you sure, Jack?"

"Yeah. Just watch out for the B.O.W and don't let it see you."

There was a pause.

"Be careful, Jackson, please."

"I won't be long. Be safe."

Some of the dust had cleared, giving Jackson a little more visibility. He backed away from the wall and looked up to the ceiling to see what had happened. He saw the hole where something had come through...And Arcee was hanging, half off, into the building. Jackson was struck with fear and worry. Her frame was even worse than before and she wasn't moving. She was in stasis, which could only mean one thing.

Jack turned with his weapon ready as he heard the groan of his father.

"Dad?" He said nervously.

He had no idea where his father was, nor did he have sight of any of the exits. He was trapped...with his father.

"I know you're here...I know you've come for me."

His heart was pounding and he could barely hear the sound of his own, shaking breath.

"You have to know who I am...Please, remember me."

He heard something moving and turned to face it. He could see its outline in the dust fog. As it moved closer, he moved back.

" _Dad...If any part of you is in there..._ " He said as his eyes became wet. " _Please, just let me go_."

Joshua was getting closer and Jack felt the wall behind him. Now, he was cornered. He pulled the trigger of his weapon and fired what remained of his magazine. The G-Mutation stopped for a few moments, but then continued towards Jackson.

Jack threw the gun away and tried desperately reach his father.

" _Dad, please don't do this_." He pleaded.

Joshua Darby came into full view and stood before his son, towering over him. Jack couldn't believe that this was happening. He had nowhere to go. He shut his eyes and turned his head away, awaiting his fate.

" _I'm sorry, Mom_." He sobbed.

With his eyes closed, Jack didn't see what happened next, he just felt it. His father closed his enlarged, but clawless, fist and smashed the back of it into Jack, knocking the boy out cold.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Around the same the G-Mutation had attacked Arcee and the others, Wesker had just about finished explaining to the B.S.A.A. and the two D.S.O. agents the truth about his enhanced strength. The Autobots had fought the Tyrants to a standstill. They too had heard Wesker's explanation, and none of them were happy. Chris, especially, was angry to know the truth.

"So, you took the T-Virus...and it did this to you." He stated.

"A prototype, Officer Redfield. It killed every other test subject, but I was willing to take that chance and this was the result of my risk." Wesker answered back.

None of the agents nor the Autobots could believe what they were hearing.

"That's how you survived what the Tyrant did to you. The prototype brought you back and healed you." Barry added.

"That is correct, Officer Burton. And as you can see, the T-Virus prototype had made something far greater than any human can hope for."

The very idea was frightening to all who listened, former S.T.A.R.S. especially, that Wesker now possessed super-human capabilities and for all they knew, could not die. As if the man wasn't dangerous enough before all this. Now, he wasn't a man at all. He was truly a monster who looked like a man. The thought terrified them. But for Chris Redfield, it angered him because of one factor.

"So, you've done it Wesker. You got your human evolution."

Chris, barely able to stand, raised his Samurai's Edge at Wesker.

"So, why in the hell do you want Jackson Darby?!" He yelled.

Wesker didn't answer, allowing Chris to regain himself. He couldn't afford to get riled up with what little strength he had. Even with the patches Rebecca had made, his back wound was still weakening him.

"Why are you doin' this to the kid...if you already have what you want?" He asked more calmly.

"Chris, if you believe that this the true end game of Umbrella, then your ambition falls far below the standard I aim to set with the boy."

Chris listened closely, as did Optimus.

"This was merely a single step towards Umbrella's goal. The boy's blood, his adaptability, it holds the secret to true evolution. He was bitten by an infected and withstood the change until he was given the T-Vaccine. Then, his blood adopted the properties of the vaccine and granted him immunity to the virus. His DNA has the potential to successfully bond with any of Umbrella's strains. Rather than become mutated, his blood can adapt and merge with it, thus creating a being that far surpasses human ability without losing the mind or deforming the body, a perfectly ascended life form."

"But your blood already bonded with the Virus." Rebecca jumped in. "The prototype didn't _kill you_. Why don't you just use your own damn blood to experiment on instead of torturing Jack?"

"Oh, I did, Officer Chambers. Unfortunately, my adaptability falls very short of the boy's. I was merely a one in one billion phenomenon. I've gone as far as I could go with my own blood. What you fail to understand is that your Jackson Darby could elevate everyone in this room to be more than what you are. But you refuse to look beyond your own emotions to see the greater picture. Limitless potential in his veins and all you hope to accomplish is to create a cure for those who have failed to evolve. This is basis of human restraint that holds us back as a species. You cannot even fathom what mankind stands to gain with his sacrifice."

"And that's what it's all about, isn't Wesker?" Chris jumped back in. "His sacrifice for your gain. All this talk about uplifting the human race and what you really want is make yourself some kind of God. I've read all the journals and diaries Spencer kept. He thought that _he_ was gonna be a God. He was gonna use the virus to wipe out the human race safe for a few he thought were worthy to live this new world he thought he was gonna create. That's exactly what you're trying to do, to create our own world where you rule over everything. You're just as insane as he is. All your going to do is destroy any and all life on Earth, if we're lucky. And you don't give a shit about Jackson. Your gonna use him up until there's nothing left of him."

Wesker chose not to respond. It was clear to him that there was no way to make them see his vision.

"Forget it, Wesker." Chris said. "Your madness has to end before it eats this world alive."

 _"Sir, protocols are set."_ Russell said through the comms.

"Proceed." Wesker.

Just before he began to explain himself to the B.S.A.A., Wesker had subtly given Russell a hand gesture that serve to signal his countermeasures. While Wesker was holding their attention, Russell had been inputting the extensive command prompts to reduce the limiters on the remaining Tyrants. Now that Wesker had given the order, he activated the new protocols.

The five remaining Tyrants grunted loudly, falling to their knees as their bodies began to change. Much quicker than the Tyrant from the Belfast lab, these Tyrants underwent change almost instantly. Their sizes had only increased slightly, as their coats and goggles remained intact. But their expressions became less neutral and their arms had mutated into large claws, more than capable of shredding Cybertronian metal. Their partial transformations were complete and they took battle stances across from their Autobot opponents.

Meanwhile, every guns aimed at Wesker, but he cared little of it.

"Now then, let's continue, shall we?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Arcee groaned in pain and exhaustion as she came back online. She could feel the weight of her own frame pulling her down as she hung off the ledge of the hole in the roof. The G-Mutation had gotten her good, knocking her into stasis. She was now too weak to continue fight, that was, until she looked down below.

She saw the G-Mutation beneath her with its back turned. She focused her vision as best she could. This could be the only chance she had to get a clean shot of it. But as she struggle to move her arm to shift and aim her blaster, she was able to see it more clearly. She saw past its large form and saw someone on the floor beneath it. When she realized that it was Jack, her spark nearly shorted in her chassis.

"Hey." She said weakly. "Hey!"

The G-Mutation turned to look up at her and she saw that Jack was unconscious.

"Get away from him!" She screamed.

Arcee pulled herself forward and allowed herself to fall through the hole. She'd managed to transform before she landed and rode straight into the G-Mutation. She rammed him with enough force to get him away from Jack, but the G-Mutation grabbed her by the wheel and threw her to the side. That's what she wanted. She transformed back and shifted her blaster. She needed to time this right.

She began blasting the B.O.W. as it ran towards her. Each shot hit it dead on, but it wasn't stopping. Pretty soon, smoke had built up and she couldn't see it, but she could feel its footsteps. It was still running straight at her. She kept her blaster up and extended and waited to see it come for her. Suddenly, it shot forward from the smoke with its claw pulled back. Arcee let it get within a few inches of her blaster and then pulled it away. With her other arm, she extended her blade and drove it straight into its torso, using its own moment to push it all the way through.

The attack took the G-Mutation by surprise, as it dropped its claw instantly. Arcee swung her arm and threw the B.O.W. back to where it was standing. It hit the ground and didn't get back up. Clearly, Arcee had weakened it. Taking her chance, she shifted her other blaster out and let off everything she had. Each blast pushed it back to the far wall and by the time she was done, the wall behind it was blasted through. She kept her weapons up until she could see it clearly. It was smoking, charred, and unmoving. Arcee didn't lower her blasters yet. She wanted to make sure it didn't get up. She stared at the still form of the G-Mutation, waiting for something to happen. Then, she heard the groans of her partner.

"Jack." She said suddenly.

She limped over to him and knelt by his side. He seemed weak and struggled wake up.

"Jack?"

"Arcee?" He groaned as he managed to open his eye.

"H-hey, Partner." She said in a very worried tone.

"You're okay." He said in relief.

Arcee managed a nervous laugh.

"That's debatable." But then she let her worries show. "Are you alright?"

Jack took a moment to answer, looking as if he was trying to remember what happened.

"I think so."

Jack managed to sit himself up.

"Easy, Jack." Arcee said.

Jack noticed how badly Arcee was injured.

"Oh my God, Arcee..."

"It's fine, Jack. I'm okay."

Jack suddenly remembered what was happening and got up to stand. He looked around and saw the remains of his father. He turned to face it fully, his throat tightening as he did. Arcee made sure she stayed close to him. He was going to need her in a few seconds. She could already his throat hitching.

"It's over, Jack...He's free, now."

Jack sobbed at the realization that his father was dead. He covered his mouth and bowed his head, letting his emotions spill. Arcee comfortingly stroked his back.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry it had to come to this."

" _Dad_." He said lowly.

Arcee hugged him as best she could with her injuries and her size.

"It's okay, just let it out, Jack."

" _I'm so sorry, Dad. I didn't want this to happen._ "

"It's not your fault." Arcee said.

Her voice was quivering, a sign of her own upset emotions. She really didn't like to see Jack crying or blaming himself.

"Wesker did this, not you. You're not to blame...You were both his victims. But you're still here, okay? And I'm here to protect you."

Arcee held him even closer, truly afraid to let him go. She felt bad for Joshua, she really did. Even after causing all of this, dying this way was beyond cruel. She held Jack for a few moments longer until she could feel him no longer shaking. They couldn't stay there forever.

"Jack, I can see your Mom and the others. They're waiting for us. They're probably worried. We need to go."

Jack took some deep breaths and pulled away as he wiped his eye. He looked up to Arcee and nodded in agreement. Arcee transformed as she could move faster and strained herself less this way. Jack was about to climb on, but he turned to look at his Dad one last time.

"Jack?" Arcee called in concern.

Jack turned back and climbed on Arcee's alt.

"Thank you, Arcee, for doing that."

"It's gonna be okay, Jack. I promise."

Arcee then sped out of the hole she had made for Miko earlier to meet up with her, June, and Raf.

' _Good bye, Dad_.' Was Jackson's final thoughts before they left.

Not long after they were gone, the G-Mutation's muscles began shifting and moving around. Joshua Darby regained consciousness and got to its feet. Its body was undergoing another change as a result of its injuries. But as with William Birkin, its changes were not instant and left him weak until it was completed. It looked around for Jack, still compelled to find him.

' _Leave him be_.' It heard the voice say. ' _You've done your part. Return to your handlers. We'll take it from here_.'

The G-Mutation followed its orders and left the building. It then proceeded to hop the rooftops to return to its cryo-pod. It had completed its mission for now.

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Jack pulled up to another alley where June, Miko, and Rafael were waiting.

"Oh thank God, Jack, you're alright." June said.

Miko had to stop her from getting out of her wheelchair with her injuries. Jack dismounted Arcee and allowed her to change. Rafael rushed into Jackson and hugged him as tight as he could. Jack really needed the little guy's hug.

"You had us worried, Jack." He said.

"I'm sorry, Raf. But I'm alright, I promise."

Raf let go of him and the two smiled at each other. He walked up and hugged Miko.

"Told you I do stupid things when I have a gun."

"You probably saved my life, Miko. Thank you."

As he hugged Miko, Jack looked at his mother, who was just happy to see him okay. But he needed to tell her what happened. He let go of Miko and knelt down in front of June. He took both her hands and prepared to tell her the truth.

"Mom...Dad's dead." Jack said, his voice cracking at the end.

June's expression became a mixture of slight shock and sorrow. Jack was looking away and she touched the side of his face.

"Oh, Jack...I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that again."

"It's okay...At least, now I know he's not Umbrella's slave anymore...And I got to say good-bye this time."

Jack was trying not to cry again.

"It's okay to be upset, Jackson. I know you loved your father, even after all this."

June hugged Jack, holding him to her chest.

" _I love you, Mom_."

" _I love you more, Jack. I love your father, too, even now. He didn't deserve that_."

And it was true. A part of her still loved Joshua Darby and she could never truly hate him completely. After all, they made a son together. Jackson was Joshua's greatest gift to her. She'd love him for that forever, enough that she could still cry for him. She was sad that he had died so horribly, but happy that he was free from all this. June kissed Jackson's head and let him pull away from her. She looked him in his eye, seeing the little bit of hope.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I...I will be." He replied.

Jack collected himself and Arcee led the group to find the others. She was happy to see that Jack hadn't let himself be broken again. But as they walked for a few seconds, Jack suddenly fell to his knee, clutching his stomach.

"Ugh." He said in discomfort.

June and Arcee turned to look at him. Arcee knelt by him in concern.

"Jack, what's wrong?" She asked.

Jack was sweating for some reason and he was suddenly taking heavy breaths.

"I think the stress is getting to me." He said.

"What is it?"

"My stomach hurts for some reason."

Arcee looked worried, but Jack quickly reassured.

"It's fine, I'm good. It's nothing serious."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah...We should keep moving."

Arcee was a little worried, but Jack was probably right. All the running around coupled with everything he had just went through could be taking a toll on him. No doubt, he was exhausted. Arcee let Jack be and continued to lead the group. Jack put this pain in his stomach on the back burner for now. Except, as they continued on, the pain wasn't going away. It was getting worse, in fact, and Jack didn't know why.

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 **Long chapter this time around and boy was it a challenge to write. Let's review, shall we? Most of the story stayed with Jack and the G-Mutation this time, but now, the B.S.A.A. knows about Wesker's powers. And as for the Tyrants partial mutations, I played around with that after reading about the 'limiters' on the wiki and thought about the idea of controlled mutations in the Tyrants. I plan to conclude that battle next chapter. Also, I really wanted to make sure I got just how useless the combat knives were in the first three games. Jack was put through the ringer again. This time, however, he seemed to be able to get through it much easier. Maybe thinking his father died gave him some closure. Feels really cruel that his father is still alive and mutating further. I intend to show the next two mutations of the G-Virus, but I'm not sure if I should write in the final blob-like mutation. Speaking of mutations...We all know what's going on with Jack. We know what the stomach pain means. The question is, what's gonna happen to him? I've got an idea of how I want to proceed, but you're gonna wait until next chapter. And I know that some of you are waiting for the next chapter of ASOG, but I really want to write the end of this arc. Next chapter, things are going to be very different.**

 **Well, thanks for your patience once again and once the next chapter is up, I'll back on Airachnid's adventures in ASOG and Jack's adventure with Spawn in The Sad Man. Please comment and review and I'll see you guys next time.**


	36. Chapter 36

Jack's stomach pain was beginning to worry him, but at the moment, he had a much bigger concern. Arcee was in bad shape. She had stayed in her bipedal form as they walked through the base. Her alt form may have reduced the strain on her injuries and kept her off her damaged pede, but it also used up more of her energon, which she had lost quite a bit of in her battle with...

Jack inhaled sharply through his nose and averted his gaze. It was done. There was no need to dwell on that any further, at least, not until they were all out of danger.

Back to the matter at hand, Arcee was hurt very badly and was in no shape to fight anymore battles. He leg injury caused her to limp and move slower than she normally would. Her speed was her biggest advantage against her enemies and without it, she was fighting handicapped. That was to say nothing of her other injuries, all of which were still leaking energon. Jack didn't think that she would bleed out anytime soon, but if a fight came their way, she'd be unable to defend herself, which also meant she'd be unable to protect them.

"Arcee, stop." Jack said suddenly.

Arcee did just that as the party followed suit. She looked behind her to Jack, which seemed like it took some effort just to do that.

"What is it, Jack?" She asked.

"Where are we going? What's the plan?"

Arcee took a moment to answer back, looking uncertain of things herself.

"The plan is that I find somewhere safe for all of you where the other B.O.W.s can't find you..."

There was a hesitance to finish her sentence.

"And then?" Jack asked.

"And then I'm heading back to 'Bee and Jill."

Jack and others reacted appropriately.

"Arcee, you can't." Jack said.

"No." Rafael said at the same time.

"That's a really bad idea, Arcee." Miko followed up.

"We don't have a lot of options, guys." Arcee reasoned.

"Arcee, look at yourself." June replied. "You can't go back there with your injuries. The Nemesis will break you apart if you try to fight it in your condition."

"Mom's right." Jack followed. "The Tyrant that beat the scrap out of Bulkhead couldn't have been as strong or as advanced as the Nemesis and he was at full health. You don't stand a chance against it, 'Cee."

"I'm not going back there to fight it, Jack. I'm just going to scope the area out and try and meet back up with Jill and Bumblebee. If they took it out already, then I can bring them back here to protect you four while we all think of another plan to get out of here."

"And if they haven't beaten it yet?" June asked.

Arcee looked uncertain once again.

"I don't know what, then." She answered. "The only option would be to go back to the main hangar and try and meet up with Optimus."

Jill looked over to where she had left her team and the remaining B.S.A.A., still hearing the distant sounds of gunfire.

"But it seems like they're still fighting it out with Umbrella and we still don't know who or what came through the gate. It may be even less safe than here. We can't just wait out here in the open for another B.O.W. to run into us. I need to find someone to look after you guys because right now, I'm useless."

Jack knew that Arcee was making a lot of sense out of a very difficult and risky decision. But he had just lost his father not twenty minutes ago. The idea of Arcee going out there and not coming back was very real to him and it was something he didn't even want to think about.

"And what if the Nemesis sees you?" Jack hesitantly asked, not looking at Arcee. "What then, huh?"

Jack was able to look up at Arcee and she understood what he was feeling. She could see it in his face, the fear of losing her, just as she feared when he'd hit his lowest. But it wasn't just Jack. June, Miko, and Rafael were all afraid, not just for themselves, but for her. She wasn't partners with them, but they cared for her all the same, just as she did...But the fact was there was no other choice.

"I'll be careful, Jack...I won't get caught." She tried to assure them.

But they were not convinced.

"Don't go, Arcee." Raf pleaded.

"We can all hide out together." Miko said. "We can lock ourselves down tight and just wait for the 'Bots to wipe the floor with Umbrella. You don't have to go out there."

This was making things much, much harder.

"I'm sorry, Miko, but I do." She replied.

"Arcee." June pushed herself forward.

Even the strong willed single mother that Arcee had come to greatly admire was silently begging her not to leave them. She wasn't just asking for the sake of her son, either. She truly didn't want to lose Arcee anymore than Jack did.

Arcee didn't know what to do. She was afraid to leave them alone with no protection and she just couldn't bring herself to leave them behind to worry. She took one look at Jack and remembered the promise that Miko and Raf kept bringing up, the one that they all stick together. Even though it was between the three of them, June had become a part of that promise and now, Arcee felt she had become a part of it as well.

Unfortunately, fate was going to make a decision for her.

They all heard the sounds of something crashing near-by and turned their heads to the direction it was coming from. Arcee positioned herself in front of the group of humans, hoping she could stop whatever was coming their way.

"All of you, stay behind me." She ordered.

"We should run." Raf said.

"We should hide." Miko countered.

"Arcee." Jack started. "If it's the Nemesis, you can't fight it."

"I have to try, Jack." Arcee said, not without a noticeable lack of confidence.

And the group gathered behind Arcee and waited for what was coming. They heard another crash very close by, but heard the sounds of a speeding car following behind it. Soon enough, they saw a black and yellow Camaro coming for them and immediately recognized who it was.

"'Bee!" Rafael said.

But as the Scout drove towards them, the Nemesis came running from a top a building and jumped down to where Bumblebee was headed. It swung its arm over its head and Bumblebee had to swerve out the way to avoid its mass of tentacles.

"What the frag?!" Miko yelled.

"Oh, no." June said grimly.

She and Jack saw that the Nemesis had mutated into a stronger form, which meant that it was even more powerful than the G-Mutation. Bumblebee came to a sideways stop just in front of Arcee and transformed.

 **"'Cee!"** He said when he saw her condition.

Then he noticed the kids and June.

 **"Are you guys, alright?!"** He asked.

"We're fine, Bumblebee." Raf answered. "But look."

Raf pointed back to the Nemesis, who was standing motionless and staring at the six of them. Bumblebee took a defensive stance in front of all of them, while Arcee kept her arm blades shifted, should she need them. She couldn't afford to use her blaster.

"'Bee, I'm no use to anyone right now." Arcee said. "Whatever you're gonna do, I can't help you."

 **"What happened?"** Bumblebee asked.

"Too much...But whatever happens next, you have to protect them now."

Miko peaked out from behind Arcee's leg.

"Why's it just standing there?" She asked.

Indeed, the Nemesis had not moved once since he attacked Bumblebee.

 **"Scrap, is he mutating again?!"** Bumblebee questioned.

"How did he mutate the first time?!" Rafael followed.

Arcee then noticed who he was staring at.

"'Bee, get them out of here!" Arcee ordered. "It's after Jack."

And that was what was happening. Now that it had an eye on Jack, the Nemesis was remembering its original perimeters and letting go the remnants that cause it to ignore them. It took a single step forward, but then stopped suddenly once more. Once again, it remained motionless. Arcee used this time to do what was necessary.

"Transform, Bumblebee, now."

Bumblebee didn't waste time and took his alt once more. He honked his horn to signal the humans who didn't understand him to get in. Rafael jumped in the front seat while Jack and Miko helped June into the back, leaving her wheelchair behind. Once June was in with Jack, Miko got in the passenger seat and Bumblebee took off. Nemesis came out of its sudden stop and went to chase after them.

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When Russell saw through the first person feed of the Nemesis that Jack was within range and that its original protocols were taking priority, he used this time to alter them. The G-Mutation was no longer able to capture Jackson and even if the Nemesis was able to take down the Autobots and Jill Valentine, there would be no guarantee that Jackson wouldn't slip away again. So, he changed the perimeters of its mission. It wasn't going to deprive Jackson of his protection, he was going to surrender himself to Umbrella.

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Arcee took her stance in the path of the Nemesis as Bumblebee drove off with the others. The Nemesis whipped its tentacles against the ground and ran with the intention to go through her. Arcee knew she couldn't stop it, she just hoped that Bumblebee could keep the kids safe. She also hoped that however hard the Nemesis ran through her, she'd survive. Jack wouldn't be able to handle her getting offlined, not after losing his father again.

But Arcee was in luck. Wheeljack came in at full speed from around the corner. He transformed behind the Nemesis with Jill and her grenade launcher in his palm. He tossed the veteran B.O.W. specialist in a somersault over the Nemesis and she landed in front of Arcee. with six rounds ready, Jill fired each one in quick succession, pushing the B.O.W. back as she moved forward. When the smoke cleared from her final round, it roared aggressively at her, ready to strike back. The smiling agent then dove out of the way as the Nemesis was hit in the back from three energon blast. The last one causing it to stumble forward at Arcee. She quickly worked up the strength to kick the thing back to Wheeljack who grabbed it out of the air and threw it into the metal wall of a nearby hangar. The Nemesis dented the wall and fell to the ground.

Wheeljack armed and aimed his blasters, but the Nemesis looked back to Arcee and Jill, at least, that's what they thought. It got up quickly and moved out of the way of Wheeljack's blast. It made its path towards Jill and threw out its tentacles, wrapping themselves around her tightly. With one swift motion, the Nemesis yanked her off the ground and threw her behind it at Wheeljack.

"Jill!" Arcee cried.

Wheeljack sprinted forward to catch her and managed to do just that, though she had taken a rough landing in his metal servos. The Nemesis used the distraction to run past Arcee and follow the path Bumblebee had taken.

"You okay, Jill?" Wheeljack asked.

"I'm good." She groaned. "You really should think about padded gloves."

"Wheeljack!" He heard Arcee call.

Wheeljack looked to the femme.

"Its going after Bumblebee!"

Wheeljack transformed with Jill in the driver's seat and went after the Nemesis, leaving the weakened Arcee alone. The femme let herself catch her breath. She needed energon and a good patch job, but she could hold out until the fighting was done, so long as she didn't do any fighting herself. She knew she should've just waited for the others to return, but she was too worried about Jack to just stay put. She managed to stand up and walk as best she could towards the action. If all else failed, she'd use up what little energon she had to get Jack out of there.

The Nemesis hopped the rooftops until it caught sight of Bumblebee. It followed after him from the rooftops and the scout could clearly see it chasing them.

"Bumblebee?" Miko said nervously when she saw it.

Bumblebee spoke in his usual manner, but Miko didn't understand him.

"He says don't worry." Rafael translated. "He's not gonna let it hurt us."

Miko, however, looked very uncertain, as did Jack and June. After seeing what the G-Mutation had done to Arcee, they were afraid to see what this thing would do to Bumblebee, who was not as good a fighter.

The Nemesis jumped down from the rooftops and onto the oncoming path of Bumblebee. The scout stopped and saw that it was preparing to meet it head on. 'Bee then adjusted his rear view mirrors suddenly and began revving his engine.

"'Bee?" Raf asked. "What are you about to do?"

Seat belts came down on all of his passengers.

 **"Hang on tight, guys."**

Bumblebee kicked it into high gear and went for it at top speed. But he then suddenly hit the breaks and broke out into a drift, going around the Nemesis until his was right behind him. The Nemesis, kept his focus of the yellow Camaro, not seeing the white and green race car coming up behind him. When it heard its engine, it was met with another explosive round in the face before it saw Jill hanging out of the driver's window.

The Nemesis growled and ran for Wheeljack instead. Jill fired more rounds, but it began to dodge them, even as the distance was growing shorter. The Nemesis then jumped into the air, seemingly going over the race car. But Jill didn't noticed that as it passed over them, its tentacles were dragging behind it. She only realized this when they wrapped around her and pulled her from Wheeljack's front seat.

"Jill!" He yelled.

The Nemesis landed, dragging the bound Jill with him. Wheeljack transformed and perhaps from seeing him save Jill before, The Nemesis once again threw her at Wheeljack. This time, much harder. Wheeljack caught her, but her landing was far rougher than before. Jill grunted in pain and when Wheeljack looked at her in his servos, he saw that she was clutching her shoulder. Too focused on his current partner, the Wrecker didn't see the Nemesis go for his face, not until he felt the mass of tentacles lash against it and knock him down in pain.

Without wasting time, the Nemesis went back for Bumblebee. The scout began driving in reverse, busting a quick u-turn to drive properly. But the Nemesis took advantage of this and jumped onto the hood of the alt. Bumblebee gunned it hard, but the Nemesis wouldn't budge. It pulled itself closer to the front and smashed the windshield. Bumblebee attempted to shake it off by swerving from side to side. It managed to throw the Nemesis off, but not completely. It held on with one hand on the roof as it hung from the driver's side. The Nemesis then grabbed the driver door and yanked it off, causing great pain to Bumblebee. It blindly threw its tentacles into the alt, but Bumblebee swerved into the wall of the building in an attempt to scrape the Nemesis off of him. When he pulled away, the Nemesis let go of his roof and fell behind him, though, it also pulled its back door off with it. Bumblebee quickly drove away from it and transformed. He held a defensive stance, deciding that he was going to have to fight it a little to slow it down before he could get the kids to safety. Bumblebee looked behind him to see if his passengers were okay. But to his shock, only Miko and Jack were there. In a panic, Bumblebee looked back to the path he had just taken and saw where the Nemesis had let go.

The Nemesis stood up, seemingly unharmed. Wrapped tightly in its tentacles were June and Rafael. Bumblebee's optics widened and Miko gasped in shock. Jack just stood there with panic in his eyes. Its tentacles had went in through the driver's side, where Raf was sitting, and busted through the window behind it, where June was.

Wheeljack pulled up with Jill in his alt and transformed to see what was happening. He bared his teeth in anger, but ultimately, held himself back to not put the two humans in danger. Even with the pain Jill was in, having just popped her dislocated shoulder back in place, she too was both angry and frightened for June and Rafael's safety. Arcee had managed to make her way there as well. Her reaction was a little more of the same as Jill. Her best friend's mother and the youngest member of the humans were held captive by the B.O.W. and there was nothing any of them could do.

All of them waited in silence, both for the Nemesis to do something while brainstorming what one of them could do. But any action taken against the Nemesis would put June and Raf in harms way. The silence was thick and maddening. No one was even demanding the two be let go, as if the Nemesis would understand them anyway. Miko gripped Jackson's shoulders tightly from behind while the teen kept himself from losing his cool again. Bumblebee was no better than Jack. It was his little brother in the monster's clutches and of course, he didn't want June to get hurt either. The silence became too much for them. Finally, Wheeljack broke it.

"Hey!" Wheeljack shouted. "Hey, big boy! I'm talkin' to you!"

The Nemesis didn't even acknowledge him.

"Look at me, you freak!" He shouted again. "We're the ones you want, right?! Let them go!"

But the Nemesis ignored everything Wheeljack was shouting at him. It continued to look onward to Bumblebee, Miko, and Jack. It didn't avert its eye in the slightest. Wheeljack continued to shout at it, but the Nemesis kept its focus. That's when Jack realized that among the three of them, it still had him in its sight, above the rest. This one was just like his father. It was after him, only stopping to kill whoever stood in its way. Arcee could see the understanding look in her partner's eye, and had she the strength to raise her voice, she would have shouted at him not do what he was about to do.

The teen gulped down his own nervousness and took a deep breath. He touched one of Miko's hands and lightly squeezed it, getting her to look at him.

"Jack?" She question.

"It's okay, Miko...I'm gonna try something."

"What..." Miko questioned further.

Jack took one step forward and Miko went straight for him arm.

"Jack." She quickly as she grabbed him.

"It's alright." He replied. "I know what I'm doing."

He pulled his arm away and didn't let her grab him again in a panic.

"Jack-Jack." She whispered in that same panic to stop him.

Bumblebee looked down by his side and saw Jack walking past. He quickly went to grab him, but the Nemesis growled once he moved on Jack, stopping Bumblebee from making another move. Jack quickly stopped to face the Nemesis, holding his hands up in caution. Jill saw what was going on and stepped forward.

"Jack, no." She cried.

"Don't worry, it's not what you think." He said.

Jack really didn't know what he was doing, but when the Nemesis growled to keep Bumblebee from grabbing him, it confirmed his suspicions. Jack took a few steps forward and then stopped when he was just out of Bumblebee's reach, but far enough from the Nemesis'. Jack stared on at the B.O.W., seeing both his mother and Rafael staring back at them with terrified eyes. He focused back on the Nemesis, trying to learn what its intentions were.

"You're after _me_ , aren't you?" He asked the beast.

The Nemesis didn't respond to the question at all. It just stared at Jack as if it was waiting for something. There wasn't a sound to be heard in the immediate area. The tension was so thick, it felt like it was smothering all of them. As if the Nemesis was growing tired of doing nothing, it finally responded. It tightened its grip around its two captives, making them groan in pain.

"Stop!" Jack panicked to say. "Stop, please."

The Nemesis did just that. It took another step forward and Jack took one back. It then motioned its head towards him, as if to point him out.

"Me." Jack stated. "You want me. I get it."

Then, the Nemesis motioned towards Bumblebee and Miko. Jack looked behind him and realized who it was referring to.

"What about them?" Jack asked. "I'm the one Wesker sent you after. Why do you want them?"

The Nemesis then look over its shoulder to Wheeljack, then Arcee, then Jill.

 **"Stars."**

Jack took a moment to make sense of that.

"Jill?" He asked.

The Nemesis growled again.

"Wheeljack, Arcee? I don't...I don't understand. What do you want from us?"

Then the Nemesis made one final motion with its head towards an open path between two hangars. Jack looked down the pathway and thought about what it meant. Then it came to him.

"Follow you." He didn't ask, but stated.

The Nemesis lowly growled again.

"Where?" Jack asked.

The Nemesis responded by applying pressure to June and Rafael again. Jack responded quickly.

"Okay. Okay." He said. "I'll follow you. _We'll_ follow you."

The Autobots, Miko, and Jill all looked to him in worry. Jack looked back at them with an uncertain look.

"We don't have a choice, guys." Jack said. "We have to do what it wants."

"That's your plan, Jack?" Miko asked incredulously. "Giving up?"

"Miko, it has Raf and my Mom." Jack responded as he looked over his shoulder. "It'll kill them if we don't. We're suppose to stick together, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

As much as she hated to admit it, they had no other options. The ball was in the Nemesis' court and it was the one in control. Jack faced the Nemesis again.

"We'll do what you want...But let them go."

The Nemesis opened its mouth and let out a threatening snarl. It then turned towards the pathway it had chosen and slung June and Rafael over its shoulder. It walked into the pathway before turning to Jack and applied to slightest bit of tightness to its hostages. It was telling Jack to get moving. Jack took one more deep, deep breath and looked to the others.

"C'mon, guys...One of us will think of something."

But as Jack was the first to follow behind the Nemesis, the others looked unsure of anything. Bumblebee was a nano-click away from having his own panic attack and Arcee had gone through a dozen different scenarios of her trying to save Rafael and June, none of which ended well. Jill was as terrified as she could be as she watched all of this happening, not knowing what Jack was thinking right now. Wheeljack bit his glossa and kept himself from being reckless. As long as the Nemesis had June and Rafael slung to its back, there was no way to attack him. Miko's heart skipped a beat with every step she took. The possibility that this could be the end for one of them, for all of them, was too real for her. This was not how she envisioned her zombie apocalypse when she was bored in class. How she wished for that boring life back.

"Supirittsu." She nervously whispered to herself, never taking her eyes off of her friends. "Kore o gaido shite kudasai."

She managed to look down and away from them, if only to hide her frightened tears.

"Onegaishimasu." She choked out quietly. "Korera no akuma kara mamotte kudasai."

As the group walked further to wherever the Nemesis was taking them, Jack took a look at the sky to try and see what direction they were going. He saw smoke and it was now that he had heard the same sounds of gunfire.

'So that's it.' He thought.

It was taking them to where Umbrella had come crashing through, looking for him. If it was forcing them to follow instead of just taking Jack away from the base, that could only have met one thing.

'He's waiting for me...It's taking me to Wesker.'

Now it was Jack praying to whoever was listening. If he was right, he was about to come face to face with the man who had replaced Airachnid in his nightmares, who's shadow still loomed over him. Arcee looked closely at his back when she heard Jack sharply inhale suddenly. She saw fear in his posture. If only she hadn't gotten injured so badly. She could've ended this right here and Jack would never have to be afraid again. But now, this monster was probably taking them to the one who has been tormenting her partner and there was nothing she could do.

All of this was almost to enough for Jack to ignore how bad his stomach was hurting right now.

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Russell was quite pleased with himself. Rewriting the Nemesis' protocols to use Jackson Darby's friends to force him back to Wesker had worked better than expected. So long as it had the boy's mother and the youngest child in its grasp, none of the three Autobots nor Jill would try to interfere. The Tyrants would deal with the four of them. Hopefully, they and Wesker would be finished by the time they got to the hangar. Speaking of which...

By the point, Wesker had finished toying with the B.S.A.A. Many of them had already fallen to him and his T-Virus strength, but Chris and his more trusted comrades had managed to stay out of his grasp. But he could see that they were all running out of strength, especially Chris, with his injuries. The only one who was still fighting strong was Leon Kennedy. Wesker decided to focus on him, for now.

Meanwhile, Optimus and Bulkhead were barely able to fight against the mutated Tyrants. Bulkhead had managed to destroy one more, but in that time, the one that was attacking Ratchet was seconds away from off-lining him. Bulkhead was forced to step in front of him to hold the Tyrant off. The Wrecker was already beaten and cut up from the fighting. He didn't know if he had it in him to handle two more.

Optimus was able to keep himself from taking too much damage from these beasts, but his size against theirs coupled with their increased speed made it much more difficult to inflict damage himself. One of the Tyrants ran in front of Optimus and crouched down. The other came up behind it and springboarded itself straight at him. The Prime managed the swing his servo and slap it backwards, but the other came up right behind it and dig its claw far too close to his spark. Optimus pulled it out and tossed it away and managed to move out of the way of the previous one attempting to strike at his pede on the ground. But that put his back to the first one and it took full advantage.

"Argh." Optimus Prime growled.

The Tyrant had jumped on his back drove its claw into him. Optimus reached over his shoulder and pulled it from him, throwing it just as he did the first one. It landed by its companion and Optimus shifted his blasters. As he fired on the two Tyrants, the pair zig-zagged away from him, avoid his blasts easily. These monsters were capable of attack formations and careful coordination, making them far more dangerous than any of the other B.O.W.s Optimus had faced. The pair ran back to him, who shifted his wrist blade out. Close combat was the only way to stop they speedsters. He prepared himself when they both jumped at him again.

Wesker had delivered a very hard air kick into Leon's chest, sending him into the grill of one of the trucks. The agent timed his next strike well enough that when Wesker sped towards him, it connected to his jaw as he was right in front of him. The Captain was caught by surprise from the strike and Leon didn't let it go to waste. He delivered a chained combo of several hooks and hay-makers, all of which pushed Wesker back. But of course, he could only let Leon get away with so much. When Leon went to punch him again, he caught his fist with his bare hand.

"That's enough of that, Agent Kennedy."

Wesker squeezed Leon's fist, painfully bringing him to his knees. Wesker put his other arm under Leon's and threw the agent over his shoulder. When he hit the concrete, Rebecca was right in front of him with her Beretta aimed at Wesker. She fired four bullets into him, jerking him back with each one. He looked back at her with mild annoyance.

"I still wonder how a weakling like you managed to survive the mansion, Officer Chambers."

Rebecca fired several more shots at him, but he began moving between the bullets. He was getting closer and closer, mere seconds away from getting his hands on Rebecca, who grew more panicked with each missed shot. But before he could reach out and grab her, Leon moved quick enough to drive his knife into Wesker's stomach. It stopped Wesker, but nothing more.

"I've had enough of you, Kennedy."

Wesker then grabbed Kennedy by the chest, digging his fingers through his clothes and into his flesh. The Agent grunted in pain as he felt Wesker's grip tighten, ready to rip a chunk of his chest out. The Captain went further and twisted his hand, causing the flesh to tear away. Leon was then lifted into the air, swung over Wesker's head, and slammed onto the ground behind him. Rebecca ran up behind Wesker and pointed her gun right at his head. He turned around and grabbed her arm, twisting it to force her palm upward and and then jerking it in the same directing, straining her arm and wrist with almost enough force to break it. He then pulled his own Beretta and fired to rounds into her waist, which was thankfully protected by her vest. But the force was enough to put her on her knees and Wesker went for her head.

Before the trigger was pulled, several rounds of two different calibers riddled Wesker and forced him away from Rebecca and Leon. He could barely register Barry and Helena standing side by side as they pushed him back. But their guns went dry and by this point, Wesker was livid. He sped towards the two and pulled them off their feet by their necks. He lifted them high and slammed them both on their backs, still applying pressure to heir throats. The blood vessels in their eyes were about to break when the entire hangar came to a halt at the sound of a monstrous roar. Everyone looked to the source of the sound. By the corridor that lead to the makeshift quarters stood the Nemesis.

Wesker was so confused by this that he released his two opponents. Helena and Barry didn't hesitate to recover and get away from him. The Captain looked over his shoulder to Russell, who was sitting in the vehicle with a smile on his face. Clearly, he had something up his sleeve.

The Autobots and the B.S.A.A. all got back on their feet once the fighting stopped. Optimus looked closely and could see the Nemesis was not alone. The B.O.W. then put its tentacled hand in front of him, revealing its two captives, June and Rafael. Optimus felt his spark jump when he saw them and for the first time since he became a Prime, he panicked, albeit quietly. Everyone at base stood there with nothing to say. It seemed like all breaths were being held. Rebecca looked horrified beyond belief when she saw Rafael in the Nemesis' clutches.

The Nemesis kept its prizes on display for a moment longer before moving to the side to allow the true prize to enter the area, Jackson Darby.

Something went through Optimus that he had never felt before, a crippling fear he was unfamiliar with. It wasn't as if he had never known fear, either before or after he became Prime, but this was far beyond anything he'd experienced. Just seeing Jackson being led around by the B.O.W., the fear so visible on face, Optimus was paralyzed with it. Jackson appeared as if he didn't want to look up. In truth, he didn't for multiple reasons.

Jack didn't want to see the carnage before him. Even with his eye to the ground, he could still smell the blood. From out in the corridor, he had heard the mayhem, along with several blood curdling screams of agony that reminded him of the night outside of the the hospital. Jack was also too afraid to look and see who was still standing and who had been killed. Was it Chris or Rebecca, Leon or Helena, Barry, Sheva, Josh, Piers, the Director? Was it too much to hope that they had all managed to survive this encounter? He didn't want to know, to be proven wrong. Watching Fowler die was still a haunting image in his head. Seeing someone else he had come to care about lying in a pool of blood with their insides ripped out would be enough to break him. But above all else, far more than anything, he was afraid to look and see...

"Jackson Darby."

He shut his eye and his head was assaulted with the memory of their last encounter. His breath shook almost violently. His heart was like a jackhammer. He felt like he was about to pass out.

"Look at me, boy."

Jackson heard him and he knew that disobeying him even in the slightest would bring consequences, but the fear wouldn't allow him to move.

"Ungh...Ah." A feminine voice sounded

Jack's eye shot open and he looked to his mother. The Nemesis was tightening a single tentacle that went around her torso. Without thinking, Jack did what Wesker demanded and immediately regretted it.

He stood there, stoically, observing Jack from across the room, the same way he did when had first awoken in that dark room. The setting was absolutely different, but Jack felt like he was back in that room, only this time, he knew what was coming.

Arcee, Jill, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and Miko all stood close by behind Jack, but none of them could do anything. Wheeljack stayed closer to Miko, but kept his hate filled optics on the man on the other side of the room. Somehow, he knew that this was Wesker. Bumblebee also glared at the head of Umbrella, nervously shifting back to Rafael to make sure he was okay. Arcee and Jill both held back urges to lunge at him, knowing the lives that were at stake. Not to mention that they were also afraid for Jack, who they knew was on the brink of a breakdown. Said teen was at a point where he wasn't sure if the sweat building was from his own fear or his stomach pain. As it was, the pain was enough that he was holding his arm across his midsection.

"At long last." Wesker began. "We meet again."

Jack was silent.

"You look unhappy to see me. I suppose forgiving me for your eye is out of the question."

Jack inhaled sharply at the mention of it. Wesker was amused by the reaction, but then, he became stern once more.

"Do you remember what I said to you before you were taken?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but he could make a single word come out.

"I asked you a question."

Jack could only nod.

"Use your words!" He said harshly.

"Yes." Jack managed suddenly.

"What did I say? Repeat it to me."

Jack looked away again, shifting his eye to the ground, but not lowering his head.

"You said, I was your property." Jack said timidly.

Wesker wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"That wasn't all, was it?"

"No."

"What else did I say?"

"That if I tried to escape...You'd torture my mother."

Optimus clenched his fists, struggling to think of a way to end this.

"I said that if you behaved yourself, I would grant your mother a quick death. Isn't that right?"

"Yes."

"And yet, here you are, hiding behind the B.S.A.A. and your Autobots. You didn't take my threat seriously."

"Wesker."

"Sir! You will refer to me as Sir, boy."

"Sir, my family has nothing to so with this. I'm the one you want."

Arcee, June, Jill, and Optimus looked to Jackson in fear of what he might've meant by that.

"You shouldn't have left." Wesker said.

"I...I didn't." Jack replied.

Wesker thought for a moment.

"No...I suppose not. It wasn't your choice to be taken by Bumblebee."

Bumblebee spoke up, but wasn't understood.

 **"Jack, what are you doing?"** He nervously asked.

"But then again." Wesker continued. "It _was_ your choice to keep running when I came for you. That was not a smart move on your part. Did you think that they could protect you? Look around you. Your Autobots are on their knees and your former S.T.A.R.S. officers are no better off. You have no one left that can stop me."

It was all becoming real to Jack. He knew that Wesker was right. He felt like he wanted to throw up. This couldn't be happening right now. Was he really going to end up back in Wesker's hands?

"There is only one thing you can do to make this easier on yourself and you know what that is."

And he did. Even as he remembered his eye being cut out so vividly, that he could almost feel the pain in his empty socket in that moment, he knew he had no other choice. If he had any chance of sparing his mother or his friends, he was going to have to break his promise.

"Sir?" He said very weakly.

"What is it?"

"If..." The words were needles in his throat. "If I go with you...Will you let them go?"

Optimus mouth opened but spoke nothing, Arcee's optics were lit with horror, and June...

"Jackson..." She managed to cry. "Don't."

"Jack, you promised!" Miko cried as well.

"I'm sorry, guys."

Jack's eye was filled with tears. He didn't want to do this. The mere thought of it pained in his chest.

"Jack, don't do this." He heard Arcee's voice cry to him.

He couldn't bear to look at her, at any of them. One look and he would lose the strength to sacrifice himself.

"Jackson." Arcee pleaded. "Please, partner, I'm begging you. Don't go with him."

He shut his eyes. This hurt...a lot, and it was for no greater good. In the grand scheme of things, going with Wesker was going to have consequences. But he couldn't bare to see his family be killed or worse.

"Jackson."

That was the one voice he couldn't take, Optimus'. If anyone could talk him out of this, it was him.

"You cannot go with Wesker...If you do, you will condemn all of humanity."

"He'll kill you all if I don't." Jack replied back.

"We cannot lose you...I cannot lose you."

Why? Why did he have to say that? Why now, after he had just lost his father? It made Jack want to stay with Optimus...And it made him afraid of watching him die even more.

"Optimus...I..."

"I hate to ruin this tender moment." Wesker interrupted. "But I'm going to kill them anyway."

Jack turned his eye Wesker.

"What?"

"You're in no position to barter with me, boy. You have nothing to bargain with. Either you surrender yourself or we will take you by force and I will make them suffer more than I already intend to."

"Wesker, please."

"Quit your groveling!" Wesker snapped. "You made your choice when you ran from us in Nevada. You've force my hand. Your Autobots and agents will die, because whether if you surrender yourself or not, I won't give them the chance to interfere again. And as for your mother and your two friends there..."

Miko instinctively got behind Wheeljack.

"They're coming with us."

And now, Jack was terrified to his soul.

"What! You can't..."

"I can and will! You've brought this upon them, Jackson."

Wheeljack shifted his blaster and was ready to blow Wesker away, but the Nemesis squeezed his tentacles again and Wheeljack was forced to stand down. He felt Miko trembling behind his leg. He couldn't let them take her.

"Why?...Why do you want them?" Jack asked.

"Because you cannot be trusted, boy. Even without your so-called guardians to protect you, I can tell that you will not be cooperative. So, I'm going to have to keep them as leverage. You will submit yourself to Umbrella and undergo every experiment without resistance. You so much as flash a hostile glare at me or my men, it will be them who suffer. Do what we say when we say it and they will remain unharmed. If you try to escape, refuse any procedure, or attempt to take your own life..."

Wesker flashed a terribly evil smirk.

"'I have no mouth and I must scream.'"

And so, Jack was backed into a corner. He couldn't save the people who protected him and his friend's lives were in his hands. There was nothing he could do except what Wesker wanted.

Then, the pain struck again. This time, it went beyond his stomach. Bolts of pain struck from where it started and went all the went through his torso. It even went up to his head, feeling it most in his eye socket. The pain was enough that Jack clutched his midsection with both arms and fell to his knees. He could feel the sweat raining down on the...dead agent he had stumbled over to? Out of nowhere, Jack felt the vomit rise in his throat and soon, the burning bile began pouring out of his mouth uncontrollably.

Wesker looked on in confusion, not knowing what was going on. The Autobots, the agents, the children, and June were worried...But there were bigger problems than Jack's nervous sickness. Wesker was going to take the civilians and the rest of them would die.

Jack heaved the last of his stomach contents onto the agent's corpse, gasping for air as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Are you quite finished, boy? This is terribly embarrassing." Wesker smugly asked.

Jack suddenly rose with a gun in his hand. He had taken it from the dead agent while he was vomiting. He pointed it at Wesker, but the Captain merely looked bored with him.

"What are you doing, Jackson?" He asked incredulously. "What can you possibly hope to accomplish with that?"

Jack took a few more breaths to gain his strength back and then...he put the gun to his head. Arcee went cold when she saw that, some very recent fears returning to her. Wesker, however, had a different view of things.

"Hm." Wesker said. "That's very bold of you, boy."

"Now here's what's gonna happen." Jack began. "The 'Bots, my mother, my friends, and every agent in this facility are gonna open the ground bridge and they're gonna leave. Once they're all safely out of here and it's just us, I'll put the gun down and then I'm yours."

Wesker was a little impressed by this.

"You've really hit your bottom haven't you, to attempt something like this. If I refuse?"

"Then I blow my damn brains out and you get nothing."

Wesker could see it in the boy's eye. This wasn't a bluff. However, it was poorly conceived as well. Wesker let just enough time to pass for Jack to become anxious and then he made his move. Jack wasn't aware of Wesker's abilities, nor was he prepared for them. He rushed Jack with incredible speed, enough that he couldn't even register what was happening before he could pull the trigger. Suddenly, he felt his hand get twisted with the gun pointed away from him. Once the gun fell from his his hands, Wesker grabbed the back of his neck and forced him to the ground hard, still holding his arm outward and twisting it painfully. Jack struggled to get loose, aggressively grunting for his efforts. But Wesker's strength was too great.

"That was a pitiful attempt to turn the tables on me, boy." Wesker said.

"Go to hell!" Jack shouted.

"It's funny how you all seem to think that shouting something like that affects me or the situation you're in. Really, it's just a pointless act."

Jack tried again to force himself back up, but Wesker didn't even have to try hard and hold him down.

"Even now, you resist me. My boy, you need to know that there are consequences for your actions, all of them. For this little attempt you made at an ultimatum, I'm going to _have_ to teach you a lesson. Your mother and your friends are going to endure a lot of pain because of what you just did."

"Don't touch them!" Jack yelled!

Wesker responded by pressing his face against the concrete. Arcee went to attack Wesker, but she stopped when she remembered June and Raf.

"You keep failing to understand that you're not in control. You do _not_ give orders to me. For that and for threatening to kill yourself...I'm going to remove an eye from each of them."

"Wesker!" Jack yelled as he tried to force himself up, only for Wesker to slam him back down.

"Starting with the little one."

"I'll kill you, I swear!"

"And just for that, I will leave your two lovely ladies there alone with some my more 'depraved' loyalists. And trust me, the missing eyes will not dissuade them at all."

Jack growled through his teeth. Wesker was just flaunting now, testing him to see him react. Though, he didn't doubt that he would hold true to every one of his threats.

"Keep this up, boy, and I will make their entire time with Umbrella unbearable and that will be before I resort to infection."

With that final threat, Jack stopped himself and was forced to calm down.

"Do we understand each other?"

Jack was helpless now and he had no choice. He nodded to answer Wesker, but was pushed further into the concrete. He could feel his skin scraping.

"Your words, Jackson." Wesker said in aggravation.

"Yes, I understand, Sir." He said.

"I'm going to let you up now. Behave and I will allow you to be taken through the bridge before I begin executing everyone here. Misbehave, I will make you watch me kill them slowly and I will start with Jill Valentine."

Wesker released Jackson, who was now thoroughly broken. Even as he was let free, he didn't get up. He lied there on the ground, praying for a miracle. But there nothing left to hope for. Once he got on his feet, he and his friends belonged to Umbrella. Once they were taken away, the Autobots, the B.S.A.A., Jill, Arcee, and Optimus were all gonna die. He was about to lose everything, even himself.

"On your feet, Jackson." Wesker ordered.

Curiously enough, to Wesker anyway, Jackson did not obey. This of course, angered him.

"I don't have to tell you that I don't need all three of them. I can make do with only two."

Again, Jack did not respond. Wesker was confused, because this was very odd behavior, given the situation. Nonetheless, Wesker responded as he saw fit. He grabbed Jack by the neck and pulled him up.

"Are you testing me, boy?!"

But he saw Jack's face and could see that something was wrong. He was now breathing very hard.

"It...It hurts." Jack said.

"What hurts?"

Jack was gasping now.

"Ev-...Everything."

Before Wesker could say anything, a tear of blood was falling from behind Jack's eye patch. Wesker quickly pulled it away and was shocked to see that there was underneath it. There was something moving inside of his eye socket.

"Please...Make it stop." Jack pleaded.

Jack then began to look ill and Wesker let go of his head. He fell back to the ground and began to violently vomit blood. Wesker backed away in absolute shock, something he hadn't felt in his life.

"Jack!" Arcee cried as she witnessed what was happening.

June looked on in the purest fear she had ever known. She had no idea what was happening, all she knew was that her son was in pain. Jill, Optimus, the children, and the rest all looked on in the same shock as Wesker. None knew what was going on, but they all feared the worst. The only one not in a state of shock or horror was Russell, who smiled knowingly.

Jack must've purged half his weight in his own blood and by the time he had finally stopped, his skin looked unnaturally pale. He remained on his hands and knees in a pool of his own blood, gasping and dry heaving from his painful ordeal. But it wasn't over yet.

Jack suddenly began loudly groan through his teeth. Soon, his groans became howls. Then, he began writing on the floor in his blood, as his body began contorting and shifting around. Wesker, while still in a state of shock, knew what was happening. He looked over to Russell, who had finally exited the safety of his vehicle, and saw that he was aware of what was happening. Wesker didn't know how or when the G-Mutation managed to implant the boy with the embryo, but he watched in anticipation. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

"Wesker!" He heard Jill call out. "What have you done?!"

Wesker looked to her and then back to the writhing Jackson.

"We will soon find out." He replied.

Jack's muscles began tightening, looking as if they would rip apart any moment. Soon enough, they did, and the flesh that was exposed looked as if it was moving on its own inside of him. But every tear closed itself back up within seconds, only for another to open up.

In the grasp of the Nemesis' tentacles, June and Rafael buried their faces into each other, unable to watch Jackson endure this. Wheeljack knelt down and put his servo in front of Miko. The young girl was an emotional wreck by this point and held on to Wheeljack tightly. She was losing her friend right in front her.

Jill tried to keep herself from looking away, praying that it wouldn't end up the way it was going to. But Jackson's screams intensified when his body began tearing itself apart and she couldn't stand it anymore. Chris grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. She embraced him tightly as she shielded her vision.

" _I'm sorry, Jack_." She sobbed.

Arcee's digits were dug into the concrete and she dared not lift her helm. She just couldn't take it. Tailgate, Cliffjumper, now Jack and in the most horrifying of ways, she was losing another partner. But she could still hear him. His screams filled her audio receptors and struck her right in the spark.

Optimus was the only one who would look. It pained him to see it, but for his failure to prevent this, he felt he deserved it. How could he have let this happen? How could he have failed two people he had come to love so dearly. He knew that what was happening to Jack was killing June at the same time. The Prime steeled himself as he prepared to do the unthinkable. He shifted his blaster out. Whatever Jack was about to become, he needed to end it. He needed to free him.

Wesker moved around Jack until he stood across from him, but he made sure to leave a good distance between them. Jack's mutation was not as easy as his own was. Then again, he had changed in death. Still, it seemed like the G-Virus wasn't sure if it was going to mutate Jack or evolve him as the T-Virus did for himself. From violent nature of this particular change, it seemed like the virus would kill Jack before either could happen.

Just as the tears began overlapping each other and Jack's body was more meat than skin, he looked up at Wesker as if his life had flashed before him. Wesker could see something forming in the socket of his eye, but he couldn't tell was it was. His torn flesh closed up and Jack fell flat on the floor.

Once the screaming had stopped, everyone who had looked away turned back to Jackson. June and Rafael were the first. Jack was lying motionless and pale on the ground, no sign of life in him. June choked on her cries and rested her head back on Rafael. Her son was gone.

Wesker watched closely, beginning to fear the same thing. He looked to Russell, who was as uncertain as he.

"Russell?"

"I don't know, Sir. I don't know what went wro-"

A sudden gasp of air caught everyone's attention, followed by coughs and more gasps. Jack began to move and slowly worked himself back on his feet. Once again, shocked was shared by everyone present in the hangar.

Jack stood up, but he didn't stand straight. He head was still down and he hadn't regained his strength. He caught his breath and finally raised his head to look in front of him. Wesker removed his glassed to get a better look and he could see it quite clearly.

Jack's right eye had regenerated, except it was no longer blue. It was now emerald green and in the darkness of the hangar, glowing dimly. Jack finally conveyed an emotion, one of surprise and confusion. He held his two hands in front of him, looking at both in a very confused manner.

When he opened his eyes, he could see the difference, in that he could see whole again. Jack held his hands in front of him and realized he once again had two points of vision, meaning, he had both his eyes. Then he noticed how sickly he appeared. His skin was almost white. Not albino white, but much more pale than he naturally was. Jack was becoming scared again. He knew something was wrong with him. He didn't know what had just happened to him. All he new is that his pain was gone, but he felt wrong.

"Jack?"

Jack turned around and saw his mother. She was still bounded to Rafael. The both of them had been crying through his ordeal and were still frightened beyond belief. But in their eyes was the slightest hope, tempered with fear.

"Mom?"

"Jack." June gasped.

Jack then looked at the Nemesis and he felt something pulsing inside of him. He didn't know what it was, but he felt an instinctual urge building in his core. He really wanted to get that thing away from his mother and the more he looked it, the stronger the urge became.

"Russell." Wesker said. "I want to test him."

Russell nodded and input several commands into his console and all four of the remaining Tyrants turned their attention to Jack. He didn't notice this.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" Russell hesitantly questioned.

"I'm not...But this is the only way to know." Wesker replied.

Russell input a single command and one of the Tyrants acted. It jumped out and landed behind Jack. He turned around to face it, but not fast enough to avoid it. Before he could react in any way, the Tyrant's went through him.

"Jack!" June screeched.

Jack looked down as he realized what had just happened. He saw the claw still in him and stood their in horror as his blood flowed out of his wound. Jack was so shocked, that he didn't even realized that he felt no pain. He managed to look the emotionless monster in the face...and something clicked on. Wesker saw his green eye suddenly glowing brighter.

Jack grabbed the beast's wrist and in one motion, twist the claw right off of its arm. The Tyrant pulled back as Jack pulled the claw from his body. Wesker looked on in awe as Jack's wounds began to heal instantly. He threw the claw to the floor and stared at the Tyrant, his expression totally blank.

Another Tyrant charged up behind him, but as he got closer, Jack's eye's widened suddenly. He jumped up, passing over the charging Tyrant completely, and landed behind him. It turned around only for Jackson to suddenly run up and drive his fist into its chest and out the back of it. Jack ran his other hand in right next to it and proceeded the rip the beast in half. Blood splashed all over Jack, but he seemed not to notice or care.

No one could believe what was happening. Jack had just managed to kill something that the Autobots could barely hold their own against. A third Tyrant attempted to run Jack through from his side, but Jack turned and stopped his claw mere inches from his face. The Tyrant tried to push through Jack's grip, but only managed to slide him back as he held onto the claw. Just as before, he twisted it to the side and ripped it off. He then spun it around and drove it back through the Tyrant, putting it on its knees. Jack walked up to it and with no effort or strain, ripped its head off its body. The Tyrant fell to the floor, lifeless.

Jack failed to sense the fourth one and was slashed to the ground. When the Tyrant went to strike him while down, Jack rolled out of the way and recovered. The wound from the first attack had healed also. The Tyrant began swiping at him, but Jack had no problem moving out of the way. All of this was seen by the more than impressed Wesker.

The Tyrant struck again, but Jack grabbed hold of its claw and tossed him over his shoulder like a rag doll. He slammed his foot down on its arm, rendering it useless, and went to crush its head the same way. The first Tyrant ran him through from behind and lifted him off the ground. It raised Jack high into the air, high enough for everyone in the hangar to see. The Autobots, B.S.A.A., Jack's mother and friends, even Wesker and Russell all feared the worst. When Jack's arm fell limp, they all believed that he had actually died this time.

But he wasn't dead. Jack clenched his fist and his new muscles tightened. His dead eyes came back to life and his regenerated eye glowed even brighter than before. He raised his right arm, and to everyone's shock, an onyx black, organic spike protruded from his elbow, the same length of his forearm. He then stuck the Tyrant's claw and pierced straight through it. The spike thinned and widened, turning it into a blade of sorts and Jack sliced through the claw, allowing him to fall to the ground. He landed on his feet and pulled the claw from him as the Tyrant backed away. Still in his trance like state, he receded blade back into his elbow, only to suddenly grow an equal length talon from atop his wrist. With unusual speed, he ran at the Tyrant and impaled it through the chest. From beneath the white coat, Jack could see it's pulsing heart still and the Tyrant went limp. Jack removed his talon and drew it back into his body, not giving any attention to his audience. It was clear now that Jackson was no longer human.

The remaining Tyrant stood back up and realigned it broken arm. It stared Jack down just as he slowly turned to face it. It ran up to him and swung it's right claw. Jack, calm as ever, drew another black blade from his arm, very much like Arcee's melee weapon. He held it up by his head and the Tyrants claw was sliced off when it came into contact. It swung its other claw, but the blade became a spike again and he moved it so the claw became impaled on that as well.

The Tyrant was held in place and Jack spun around and elbowed the Tyrant in its stomach, piercing through another spike from his left elbow. He withdrew both his defenses back into his arms and turned to face the injured Tyrant. He balled his fist and punched the B.O.W. hard enough to almost push through its back. The blow sent it flying, but before it touched the ground, it was caught by an organic, vine-like tentacle, the same color as Jack's spikes and blades. It went all the way back to its source, Jack's open palm. Thin strands lined down from his fingers and formed a single thick vine that snapped forward and latched itself onto the Tyrant's chest. Jack jerked his arm back, pulling the Tyrant in full force with it. He met the Tyrant head on with a powerful hay-maker to the face, punching right through its head. The body hit the ground, but skidded a good feet feet before stopping.

The tentacle retreated back into Jack's hand and his muscles untensed. His eye dimmed, though it still glowed, and he seemed to release himself from his trance. When he regained his senses, he found himself standing among the corpses of four B.O.W.s. He looked around in confusion, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

"What just happened?" He asked.

Wesker looked intrigued by this. Jack was getting nervous again and looked to allies for answers, but was only meant with stares of dumbfounded shock...and fear.

"What's going on?" He nervously asked them.

Wesker whispered something to Russell who began inputting commands into his console. Jack was still waiting for answers, but no one seemed willing to talk. All they could do was stare.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

He then heard the sound of someone clapping slowly. He turned around and saw Wesker, pleased with what he had just witnessed.

"Remarkable, Jackson. Truly remarkable."

He looked at his hands and saw that they were not only covered in blood, but also the same substance that came from the Tyrants. It hit him then and there.

"I did this?" He asked.

"I didn't know what to expect of you upon infection, but this...This is more beyond what I imagined."

"Infection?...You..."

He began touching his face in terror, feeling under his newly regenerated eye.

"What did you do to me? How did you..."

Jack then realized what happened.

"Dad."

"Your father had implanted the G-Embryo into you and your body has successfully bonded with it."

The words were horror to his ears. He stood there in a state of shock.

"You've evolved, Jackson. You are the next stage of humanity." Wesker said.

"Oh, God." He said to himself.

"Jackson, listen to me very closely."

"Why did you do this to me?"

"You're far superior than you were before."

"You infected me."

"But you're not in control yet."

"You made me a monster."

"You react on instinct."

"You made me like them."

"You sense danger and you attack."

"Why did you do this me?!"

"Jackson...You are perfect, but in a state of defense, you're little more than an animal. You need to learn to control your new form."

"Change me back."

"There is no going back. Evolution does not move backwards."

Jackson took it all in and fell to his knees. He was too shocked to even cry.

"Come with us, Jackson."

Jackson looked back up at Wesker. He then heard his mother and Raf gasping suddenly and turned to them. The Nemesis had let them go and stepped away from them.

"Come with us and I will spare everyone." Wesker said in an almost friendly tone. "All we want is you. Umbrella will help you control your instincts and channel your power. You're what we've been trying to achieve, Jackson and now that we have, we have no reason to harm your family. Come with us and we will leave them be. You have my word."

My word...Those two words...Those two words filled Jack with intense anger. His word was what's been hunting him this whole time. It was his word that took his father's life. It turned him into a monster and now, he had become a monster himself, all because of Wesker's word. His word, his promise to leave his family alone, it was a lie. He knew what Wesker was going to do and he had to stop it once and for all.

All Jack saw next was a green light.

Jack's nails became black claws and he set his sights on Wesker. The Captain's face hardened and he motioned for Russell to step aside. Russell was changing the protocols on the Nemesis again, but he didn't input them.

Wesker took his stance readied himself for Jack's attack. He needed to subdue him without killing him, which wouldn't be easy. There was still no telling of how strong he really was. Wesker had to gamble that his skill would overshadow Jackson's strength.

Jack sprinted towards him with his claws ready to strike. Was he was close enough, he went on the attack, but Wesker was too fast. As he had with so many bullets, Wesker flashed out of the way of Jack's slashes. The G-Virus had given him strength but not speed, at least, not like his. Wesker managed to catch Jackson's right wrist with his left and strike his face with his own right. In his dazed state, Jack was left open and was punched in his stomach, sending him skidding back on his feet. When he stopped, Jack stared at Wesker blankly, as if analyzing him. Wesker used the moment to speed his way and knock him out.

Wesker's fist was an inch from Jack's face when he disappeared and reappeared, crouched down below Wesker. He didn't even have time to counter when Jack rose with an uppercut to the torso that lifted him off his feet. Before he realized what happened, three talons tore out of his back and retreated as quickly as they appeared. Jack let Wesker fall to the floor, now injured and near dead.

The green light from just a second ago disappeared and Jack was standing over an injured Wesker with blood all over his fist. He realized what he had just done. In a state of fear, once again, he backed away. He really had become a B.O.W. and was having moments where he attacked without thinking. With this realization, he turned back to his family and understood what this meant.

They all looked to him, unsure if it was really him. He could see the fear in their eyes, but also the hope, but also the hesitance. They wanted to help him, but they were afraid of him. Only his mother stepped forward.

"Jack?"

Jack then made the hardest decision he ever had to make. He couldn't control his actions. If he lost control around them...

Images of his nightmare before he woke up back in Omega One flashed in his mind, the nightmare of him killing and eating his mother.

" _I'm sorry._ " He said.

" _Jack...Sweetie, please don't._ " She pleaded, knowing what he was going to do.

" _I love you._ " He said as his final words.

" _Jack..._ "

With that, Jack ran as fast as he could to the nearest and clearest exit, which was a window high up on the far wall.

" _Jack_!" His mother called to him.

He held the sound of her voice. He knew it'd be the last time he would ever hear it. He trusted this new power he had and when he was under the window, he jumped with all his might. To his shock, he made it to the window and went right through it. When he landed on the other side of it, he ran faster than he ever had in his life. Much faster than he ever thought possible.

Arcee watched as her partner disappeared and looked back to the cause of it all. Wesker was being helped up by his loyal hand. He was weak, but he wasn't dead. In pure anger, Arcee shifted her blaster was ready to blow the pair of them straight to Unicron or Lucifer, whichever was worse.

But then, her blaster was swatted right up and her blast went through the ceiling. She looked down and saw the Nemesis standing defensively. It roared at the group and then began whipping its tentacles at whoever had the bearings to try and blast it or Wesker. It held them off until Wesker and Russell were safely in one of the vehicles. It then leaped onto the vehicle and rode with them away from the hangar. No one had to strength to go after them.

As they sped back towards the front gate, Russell glanced at the bleeding Wesker and saw that the T-Virus was already healing him, though, at a far slower rate than Jackson. Wesker, however, seemed amused by the whole thing.

"Sir." Russell spoke. "Air transport is waiting for us. We need to get back to base. You need to heal."

Wesker merely chuckled through his pain.

"Did you see it, Russell? Did you see what he's become?"

"I did, Captain...It worked."

Wesker was breathing heavily, but he was smiling.

"He adapted to my speed, Russell. He moved like I did."

Russell drove past, through, and over anything that got in his way as he rammed through he front gate again.

"It's just like his blood...It adapted to the vaccine to combat the virus...Now his body adapts the same way. He's perfect...We need to find him." Wesker continued.

"We will, Sir. The boy is ours."

"Jackson Darby." Wesker corrected suddenly. "He withstood mutation and evolved. He killed four Tyrants. He's earned his name back."

Wesker passed out from the pain, but they had already managed to make it to their air transport. Once Captain Wesker was back on his feet, the hunt was back on. But now, Jackson was on the run. It'd be much harder to find him this time.

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Jack jumped the gate and ran through the desert. He had no real destination in mind. He just needed to get as far away from his mother as possible. He needed to get as far away from people as possible. He needed time to think and figure out what he was going to do. Nothing was going to be same ever again. He was no longer human. He was a bio-organic weapon now, just like his father was.

On the horizon, Jack could see a squad of men coming his way. Figuring them for B.S.A.A. agents, Jack stopped dead in his tracks and was about to run in another direction. He needed to get away from them before he could hurt them. But they got close enough for him to see that they weren't with the B.S.A.A. They were with Umbrella.

And then, he saw the green light again.

He stood there as they got close, staring blankly at them while they approached with their weapons drawn. They surrounded him, but they didn't open fire. They were aware that he was of high value, but they didn't know what had happened to him. They would soon find out.

From both arms, three talons were drawn, one above his forearm, two on the sides below. Sounds of gunfire could be heard in the desert, followed by the sounds of flesh being torn and screams of pain. Jackson walked away, caked in human blood, his instincts still in control. Behind him, he had left a mess of limbs and corpses. One agent was left clinging to life, but he was disemboweled and missing an arm. Before he could go into shock, he reached for the handgun on his vest and put it to his head. He would die before he allowed himself to become infected. His last thoughts before he pulled the trigger was wondering what kind of monster Wesker had created.

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Everyone stood in the hangar as the reality hung above them. For June, it had hit her the hardest. Her cries filled the hangar as Jill held her tightly, trying to keep her from losing it altogether, as if she wasn't on the verge of it herself.

Rebecca held Miko and Rafael close. They too were crying, though not as much as June. Still, there friend was gone. He had broken his promise and ran away. He wasn't even Jack anymore. Arcee stood away from everyone. She couldn't cry, but she wanted to. She didn't want to fall apart in front of June, but right now, she desperately wanted to see Jack again. But she may never see him again...and the thought was tearing her up inside.

Optimus watched as June descended into an emotional breakdown. He had failed them yet again, this time, far worse than before. He couldn't stand to see June this way, but there was nothing he could do. How could he possibly comfort her? Jackson was gone, both physically and as they knew him. He felt a servo on his shoulder.

"Optimus." He heard Ratchet say.

Optimus shrugged his shoulder away and looked down.

"I failed again, Ratchet."

"No, Optimus. This isn't..."

"It is...I failed...I let the down once again."

June was so far gone, she didn't even have the strength to stand. She fell to her knees and Jill fell with her, not wanting to let her go.

" _Jack...My Jack...What have they done?...What have they done?_ "

June eventually stopped crying, but only because she had become too exhausted to stay conscious. Jill stayed with her the entire night. But Arcee and Optimus couldn't be in the same room as her. Their guilt wouldn't allow it. So they sat outside the hangar as everyone else tried to figure the next course of action.

"Sir..." Arcee weakly began. "What do we do now?"

But Optimus didn't have an answer.

"I do not know, Arcee. I am as lost you are."

"So is he...He's alone out there. He's probably scared...He needs us."

"I know...But I am...afraid of what we might find when _we_ find _him_."

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Miles away from the base, in a lush forest, Jackson was still running. He was far from any danger, but he had not regained any control. Finally, he came to a stop, but his eye was still glowing. He looked around and tried to find any sign of life.

He heard a snarl behind him and turned to see an unhappy felis. It roared at him aggressively, warning him to vacant her territory. Jack didn't heed her warning, but challenged her by drawing a spike from under his wrist. He had used a lot of energy to escape Umbrella and now he needed to feed.

He went to sleep with a full stomach that night. By the time he woke up tomorrow, he would be at full strength. Of course, he wouldn't remember anything that happened after he jumped through the window. He was in for a very harsh awakening. He was on his own now. His instincts got him this far, but he himself had no idea what he was doing, or what was to happen next.

Everything was different, now. In once day, Jack's world had completely changed. And if Umbrella was allowed to have their way, the whole world was going to change as well.

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 **And thus, the final act has begun.**  
 **Let's talk about Jack's new form. As Wesker said, his body is now adaptable. There were a lot of ideas floating around here and there, many from you in the comments. I knew that Jack was going to have strength and speed similar to Wesker's, but with the G-Virus being different from the T-Virus, I wanted him to be different than Wesker as well. One thing I didn't want was to turn Jack into a mutant or an inhuman by giving him a comic book superpower. Some of you suggested Tokyo Ghoul and Prototype. I was only vaguely familiar with either, but I got the gist of what they could do. Jackson, responds to danger. When something threatens him, his body reacts and fights back, changing when it has to. Basically, Jack can control his mutations. He's not like Darwin from X-Men who can adapt to any situation by growing gills or hardening his flesh. He figures out how to fight back in the moment and changes to help him do that. I'll go deeper into it in the next chapter. But now, Jack is alone and on the run with Umbrella still after him. But he now has to run from them and the Autobots as well as stay away from humanity. And of course, poor June is at her absolute lowest and the rest of the team isn't doing any better. The next chapter is gonna be a pretty heavy one, so brace yourselves.**  
 **So, this was the final part of the trilogy chapters and now I need to get back to my regular rotation. A shard of glass and The sad man readers have been waiting patiently and I need to get back to work on those. So stick around for a bit and I will be beck with chapter 37. Still can't believe I've written so many of these. So, I hope to see you all next time. One love.**  
 **On an unrelated note, I am enjoying the hell out of The Defenders. But damn, only one episode left and I want more, dammit! Well, here's waiting for The Punisher.**


	37. Chapter 37

It was late into the night, or very early in the morning, at the B.S.A.A. blacksite. With the forced departure of Umbrella, Director Barker ordered for an immediate relocation of all the personnel on sight, a thorough clean up of B.S.A.A. intel, and full sanitation of all downed B.O.W.s. Nothing was to be left behind. Hours had gone by after it all came to a head and most of the agents on site had vacated the premise by air and land. Key members of the B.S.A.A. remained, along with the Autobots, the humans, the D.S.O. and a few others. As of right now, everyone was beginning to gather in the main hangar as Ratchet was preparing to use the ground bridge to head to the next location. As whoever that was left on site triple checked the premise for anything of value being left behind, Arcee sat alone inside the ruins of the building where...it happened.

This was where it must've taken place, where he got to him...This is where she failed her partner worse than she had failed either of her previous two. This is where Joshua had gotten to Jack. Arcee sat in the middle of the room, her knees pulled to her chest as if she were a scared child. How could she have let this happen? How could she have screwed up so badly? Her partner, her little brother, was gone.

"Jack." She whispered to no one.

So many thoughts clouded her mind, so many fears. One was the frightful image of Jack holding that gun to his head to threaten Wesker away. Seeing that had scared her more than any of the B.O.W.s she had faced up to that point. One was the horrible sight of him writhing in pain before his body began to tear itself apart. Her recharge would plague her with that memory for vorns to come. One was of Jack utterly destroying the Tyrants with ease, all the while wearing a blank expression that made him almost unrecognizable to Arcee. And the rest were thoughts of what he was doing now. There was one thing she truly feared him doing, or...had already done.

Arcee shut her optics. Her spark throbbed with pain at the thought. She tried to tell herself he would never do that. He had promised her he wouldn't. But then, he promised Rafael and Miko that he wouldn't run away again. Jack was capable of anything now. He was scared and he believed he had nothing to lose. Succumbing to his own fears and taking his own life, it wasn't just possible, it was likely.

"Arcee?"

She looked behind her and saw Bulkhead. He, like her, was emotionally drained from everything that happened tonight. He looked on at her with a sadness in his optics.

"You, uh...You doin' okay in here?"

Arcee looked away from him.

"No." She answered simply.

"Yeah...Me neither."

Bulkhead walked up and took a seat next to Arcee, staring down at the ground, looking as lost as she was.

"How's Miko doing?" Arcee asked.

"She fell asleep about an hour ago. Before that, I couldn't get her to stop cryin'."

Arcee looked at Bulkhead and saw the same hopelessness she was feeling.

"Raf?" She asked.

"He's puttin' on a tough face...But that worries me and 'Bee. Miko's usually the one tryin' to keep a chin up while Raf's the one who can't hold back the tears."

There was a moment of silence between them.

"Ratchet sent me to look for ya'." Bulkhead continued. "We're gettin' ready to leave this place."

Arcee didn't say anything.

"You hear me, Arcee?" Bulkhead asked.

"I heard you, Bulk...But, we can't leave."

"We got no choice. This place ain't safe no more. Umbrella knows about it. The kids, June, they're in danger if they stay."

"I should stay behind, then."

Bulkhead looked confused.

"In case Jack comes back."

Bulkhead looked at Arcee with pity.

"He ain't comin' back, Arcee."

Those words hung over both of their helms and neither could say anything else. Bulkhead looked back to Arcee and saw that she had shut herself off. The last time she was like this was when she was rescued from Airachnid back on Cybertron, when they lost Tailgate.

"I'll let Optimus know you're comin'" Bulkhead said just before leaving.

Bulkhead walked out of the building, leaving Arcee alone. Once he was gone, she took in what he had said. Even without tears, Arcee couldn't hold back. She dropped her head and began to cry.

" _I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so sorry_."

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The remaining party at the blacksite were all gathered in the main hangar, awaiting Optimus' orders. The Prime stood before all of them, holding the Forge of Solus in his right servo. He looked around to make sure everyone was accounted for. The B.S.A.A. were all there, as well as the D.S.O. June was still asleep from exhaustion and being escorted by Jill in her wheelchair. The children were also asleep in the servos of Bumblebee. There were only two not in attendance.

"Where are Bulkhead and Arcee?" Optimus asked.

 **"Bulkhead went to go get her. He should be back any minute."** Bumblebee answered.

"Very well. While we wait for them, let's go over our relocation."

Optimus walked through the gathering and in front of the space bridge.

"Ratchet will open a bridge to our new base of operations. Director Barker has provided us with a new location that he assures me is not on record. Bumblebee, Arcee, and myself will escort June, Miko, and Rafael. The B.S.A.A. and the D.S.O. will follow us. Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack will stay behind."

Optimus looked to Wheeljack and Ratchet to see their approval. They had taken no issue with this.

"Ratchet will dismantle the space bridge so that Umbrella will not have access to such technology should they return. Bulkhead and Wheeljack will provide protection, in the event of another attack. Then, I will use the Forge of Solus to create another ground bridge and I will open a portal for the three of you to rejoin us."

Bulkhead entered the hangar and caught Optimus' attention. Arcee was not with him, which concerned the Prime. But he continued.

"The B.S.A.A. will assemble themselves as they see fit as I'm am sure the D.S.O will as well. We Autobots will make the necessary adjustments to accommodate our human companions and once we have all settled, we will continue our campaign against Umbrella."

Once again, the team was in agreement. But there was a looming question on everyone's minds who all noticed that Optimus had not made any mention something of extreme importance.

"What about Jack?"

Optimus turned to the entrance of the hangar and saw Arcee standing there. As he feared, her expression was almost blank. She was shutting herself off again.

"When will we start looking for him?" She asked further.

Optimus did not wish to give the answer he had.

"At the moment, assuring the safety of June and the children is our main priority. Once we have relocated, we must be certain that we cannot be tracked or infiltrated by Umbrella again. We have to make sure that they are protected."

Arcee didn't react, but Optimus knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear. He too wanted to search for Jackson and bring him back. But Umbrella had left so much damage in their wake and Optimus had to make sure that his family was safe before he could do anything else.

'Family.' He thought to himself.

The humans had influenced the Prime so much since they had entered the Autobot's lives. The thought that one of them was missing and alone weighed heavy on his mind. But right now, he had an immediate concern. Umbrella couldn't know where Jack was any more than they did, so he had room to focus on what was in front of him.

But once things _were_ settled and they had a moment to breathe, Optimus knew that he wouldn't be able to think about anything except Jackson. Everything else would have to take a step back, the Decepticons, Umbrella, the vaccine. Until he knew that Jack was alright, until he was safe with them, and they found a way to help fix what Umbrella had done to him, Optimus wouldn't know a moments rest. He needed to save Jack. The short in his spark would not stop before then.

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"Uh...Ugh..."

Jack groaned as his consciousness returned to him. However, he was at that point where his mind had woken up, but his body was still asleep. He could lift his head an inch or two off the ground, but everything else felt like it was weighed down. As he waited for his body to wake up, he looked up at the sky. That's when he realized that he had no idea where he was, except that he was outside.

"What the..." He barely said.

He was in a forest of some kind. His mind was scattered and he couldn't recollect anything from the night before. But he remembered that the base he was living in was in the desert. What was he doing in a forest?

When he body finally began to respond, he sat up and tried to shake some sense back into his mind. He hunched over and held his head as the morning weakness began to dissipate. When he opened his eyes and looked at his hand, he saw that it was caked in blood. His panic was knee-jerk, as anyone else would be. But when he saw that his whole body was covered in blood, his panic became real. Then he looked around and he saw the bloody remains of some large cat that looked like it had been ripped open and torn to shreds. He covered his mouth and kept himself from losing it.

He looked away and tried to make sense of all this, all the while breathing like he was having an asthma attack and shaking like a drug addict going through withdrawal. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to remember something from the night before. He didn't have to try too hard, because it all came back to him in frightening detail.

It started in bits in pieces, like the death of the Fowler, in all its gory detail. Then he remembered being chased by his father and Arcee fighting with all she had to protect him. He remembered seeing his father for the last time, then the Nemesis, then the Tyrants.

"Oh, God." He whispered in horror.

These memories were somehow clearer than the others, even if they felt like they had happened to someone else. But he knew that it was his hands he saw piercing through the Tyrant's torso, his ripping off their claws, tearing one in half, and his hands...

"No." He said with much more hopeless.

It was his hands that changed, deformed into claws and spikes and blades and shredding through all four of them. These monsters that had overwhelmed the Autobots, B.S.A.A., and the D.S.O., Jack was the the one who killed them...because he was one of them

"No, no, no." He began to whimper as he hunched to the ground, covering his face. " _This isn't happening...This isn't real_."

But it was real, real as the memories, as the blood that covered his body. He stopped crying for a moment and examined himself. He couldn't stand the sight of it. He saw that there was a stream a few feet away from him and quickly crawled to it, too scared to even stand up. Frantically, he reached into the stream and splashed himself with as much water as he could. He nervously whimpered as he tried to wash away all the blood. Some of it came off, but there was just so much of it. As attempts to wash himself became more frantic, he had flashes of the Umbrella agents he had butchered as he ran away from the base. He remembered the sounds of their screams, the horror and pain, the disgusting tears of their flash as Jack had reduced them to limbs and entrails. He looked down at his bloodstained garments and tore them off his body. With his strength, his jeans ripped like wet paper.

Naked as the day he was born, Jack got into the stream, horribly cold as it was. He didn't care at all. All he wanted was to get the blood off. He continued to make noises of panic as the blood finally began to wash away. He splashed his face and then got a good look at himself in the reflection of the water.

The blood the was gone, but his new eye was still there. It looked so unnatural to him, not only because of the color, but because he knew where it came from. It was like his father's eye that grew from his shoulder. It was an unwanted growth, like a tumor, created from the G-Virus.

Jack got out of the the stream and fell to his knees. He felt bile rise from his stomach, but he suppressed it. His arms and legs still shook, but it had nothing to do with the cold. In fact, he felt no cold at all, now that he was out of the stream. He stood up on his knees and looked at his right hand. It looked normal to him, but he stared at it like it was the same as his father's claw. Without even trying to, his hand changed, much to his horror. The three onyx black talons came right out of his arm and and extended over his head. His looked up them with pure shock. He fell back on his backside, too scared to have another thought, fearing it would change something else.

Jack sat in a state of shock, not noticing the claws retreat back into his body. His mind was blank for a moment. The reality of it all was setting in. Jack was now a B.O.W. He was no longer the miracle cure for humanity. Now, he was Umbrella's ultimate weapon. The memory of him running Wesker through with his claw did nothing to comfort him. His logical thoughts were coming back and they were telling him that Umbrella was too close to be stopped with Wesker's death. They were still after him, now more than ever. If they got their hands on him.

Jack became blank again, but this time, it wasn't out of shock. It became as clear as the stream he washed himself in. His body reacted to his thoughts. He felt his arm shifting around and saw the three talons had returned, though much smaller. But they were big enough. His began breathing heavily through his nose, purely out of nervousness. It was clear what he had to do.

But he thought about Miko and Rafael, the promise he had broken when he ran way. He thought about Jill, and Rebecca...and Arcee.

"Arcee." He said as he shut his tear filled eyes with realization.

This is what she was afraid he would do. God only knows how scared she was for him at this moment. If he did this, it would hurt her beyond anything Airachnid had done to her. And Optimus, he had chose Jack as a Prime and Jack was beginning to feel something for him he had only felt with his father. He'd be letting him down even more than when he gave back to Key to Vector. And his mother...

 _"Jack."_ He remembered her soft voiced calling to him.

He couldn't bear to think about what it was like for her right then. He couldn't forget the pain in her eyes just before he ran or her cries for him when he did. Her heart must've shattered to pieces when he ran away. If he did this, and it got back to her, it would kill her. She'd lose the will to live. She'd have nothing...But that was better than whatever Umbrella was planning for the world.

"Mom, I'm sorry _._ " He tearfully said.

He focused on what he wanted to do. His claws retreated again. But then, he balled his fist and put it against his chest, over his heart. As he prepared to do what needed to be done, he shut his eyes and bared his teeth. He didn't want to die, but this needed to happen.

" _I'm sorry...I'm sorry_." He sobbed.

And with that, a black spike pierced through his chest out of his back. Jack felt himself choke the moment he was run through. He hacked gobs of blood from his mouth and he felt his body shutting down. The spike retreated and his blood flowed out of his fresh wound. Jack fell forward and it wasn't long before his vision faded. The last thought he had before he fell unconscious was his regret of not leaving a message to his mother, a carving on one of the trees telling her that he loved her. But it was too late for that now. Jack lied motionless on the ground with his eyes still open as his blood pooled underneath him. He had done what he intended. He lied there dead...for a mere second. His conscious did not return, but his right eye once again began to glow and the hole in his back slowly began to close.

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Bulkhead stepped through the ground bridge last. He had switched places with Arcee, who wanted to remain back in the previous base with the hope that Jack would return. But Bulkhead knew that Jack wasn't coming back. Still, he did it for Arcee, for her comfort. He'd knew that if it was Miko, he'd do the same thing.

Speaking of, he looked for his young friend among the humans that had crossed through the portal. She and Rafael had woken up so that they could leave with the rest of the team. Unfortunately, the brief moment Bulkhead had with her showed that her rest did nothing to make her feel better. She was taking all of this very hard, especially Jack running away.

Bulkhead looked around and saw that the base was pretty massive, capable of housing a mech of his size. But it was also very closed off, with not a window to the outside in sight. It was a lot like Omega One, though felt less like home than the previous base.

 _"Optimus, do you read?"_ The Prime was called through the comm link.

"I read you loud and clear, Ratchet. Everyone here is accounted for."

 _"Alright, then. Me, Arcee, and Wheeljack will begin dismantling the space bridge."_

"And I will begin constructing a new one on my end."

 _"Are you sure you have enough materials to complete one?"_

"With the Forge of Solus, I have everything I require. However, it will take some time to reconstruct a ground bridge. The three of you are to be on your guard while you remain behind."

 _"Don't worry about us, Optimus. Just...just hold everyone together. Things are very upsetting for the moment."_

"You...are not wrong, old friend." Optimus replied, spotting the still asleep June in her wheelchair and the exhausted and still emotional Rafael and Miko.

Bulkhead managed to spot Miko and went to her as everyone began to get situated. Optimus began working on the new ground bridge and Bumblebee followed Bulkhead's lead by going to Rafael.

"Miko." Bulkhead called.

She looked up at him with wet, puffy eyes. She wasn't crying, but she was still upset. Bulkhead hated to see her in such a state.

"Let's go find you a room before all the good ones are taken."

Miko didn't reply, but she walked over to Bulkhead without really looking at him. The two walked side by side into one of the many corridors of the new bases lobby. Getting use to this place was going to be even harder than last time, especially with one of the kids missing.

Bulkhead and Miko found a room big enough for him to enter along with her, just far enough from the lobby to give her some much needed privacy when she wanted it. There was a bed set up, just like in the old base. It looked newer than the base itself. Bulkhead figured it must've been left there recently.

"Gotta hand it to Optimus and Ratchet, they really thought ahead on this one."

Miko was sitting on her bed, staring off with no real input to offer.

"I was wondering what they were doing that day they were taking equipment through the bridge. Guess they were preparing for the worst. This place ain't so bad. Just hope there's an exit to the outside so you can get some fresh air once in a while."

"I don't need no stinkin' fresh air." Miko replied lowly and bitterly.

This was the first time she had spoken all night and it wasn't a good the sign the way she did.

"I want my friend back." She followed.

Bulkhead just looked at her, wishing he had something to say to lift her spirits. But anything that could be of comfort to her would only be a lie.

"Well...Arcee _is_ still back at the old base. Who knows...Maybe he'll go back there."

"Don't be stupid, Bulkhead." She replied with that same bitterness. "We both know he won't."

Again, Bulkhead could say nothing that wouldn't be a lie.

"Jack's not coming back. He left us for good... _We're never gonna see'em again_."

Miko lowered her head and sobbed lightly. Bulkhead moved closer and knelt before her. He gently brushed his digit against her face, which she put her hand on as she cried a little more. She opened her eyes and showed her sadness to Bulkhead.

" _Bulk...What are we gonna do?_ "

Bulkhead didn't have an answer. He didn't know what she was asking. Was she asking what they were gonna do about Jack, about Umbrella, about Wesker?

"I...I don't know, Miko." Bulkhead answered.

Miko got up off her bed and held herself against Bulkhead's leg.

" _I wanna go home, Bulk. I wanna go back to Jasper. I want to see my host parents again. I...I even want to go back to school. I want to go back to our old base so I could run through the ground bridge and get into trouble...I want Jack to come after me_."

And now Bulkhead could feel his spark aching, because he wanted those things too.

" _I want things to go back to the way they were, before Umbrella came and ruined everything_."

Bulkhead went to speak but stopped for a moment.

"I...I know you do, Miko. But things can't go back to the way they were."

" _But I'm tired, Bulkhead."_

"If you're tired, just go to sleep. I'll be here. I won't leave, I promise."

" _No...I'm tired of being scared. I'm tired of Umbrella terrorizing us. I tired of seeing you all come back hurt_. _Jack's gone. Fowler's dead. They turned my friend into a monster...He's gonna do something stupid. I know he is._ "

Now, she was sobbing hard.

"Miko, don't think like that."

 _"I just want this nightmare to be over...I want Jack...I want my home back...But it's all gone. Umbrella taking all of it away from us_."

Miko's big brown eyes looked straight up into Bulkhead's optics.

" _They'll take you away from me too_."

That was it for Bulkhead.

"No, they won't." He answered.

He reached down and lifted Miko to his spark chamber.

"No one is gonna separate us. Do you hear me, Miko? I'm not letting them win. What happened was the last straw with Umbrella. Optimus isn't gonna let them get away with that...And we'll find Jack. I don't know how, but we'll find him and we'll bring him home. And if it takes a lifetime, we're gonna fix him. They'll undo what Umbrella did to him. They'll find a way. You three are gonna be together again."

Truth be told, Bulkhead didn't know if finding Jack or curing him was even possible, but he didn't know that it was impossible, so it wasn't a lie.

" _Bulkhead...I wanna believe you, but..._ "

Miko stopped and cried a little more into his chassis.

" _I can't...I want to see Jack again, but...He's not Jack anymore_."

That last sentence broke her down. Bulkhead knew that it made her feel guilty as much as it hurt her to say it. His best friend cried herself weak all over again in his servo and there was nothing he could do about it. And as much as he wanted to believe that he and the others could save Jack, he knew Miko was right. That wasn't Jack who did that to those B.O.W.s. and it wasn't Jack that nearly killed Wesker.

'I'm sorry, Jack.' He thought to himself.

The mere thought made him angry at himself, because he was letting both Jack and Miko down. But Miko was his biggest concern and he felt that Jack was a lost cause. But that didn't make him feel any better about giving up on him like this.

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Leon held his phone to his side. He had already punched in the number, but he did not send the call. He too was focused on the corpse in front of him.

"Fowler...Goddammit." He said somberly.

Leon was no stranger to loss in his line of work. It began with Ada, even though he would later find out that she survived. Since then, he had lost many comrades and allies in the field. But that was the life they all chose and they all knew the risks. Fowler was no different and yet...this one felt closer to home than the others.

Maybe it was because Fowler was not involved in this as long as he was. Maybe it was because he had a chance to step back and leave it to the rest to them. Maybe he just got to know him a bit better. Leon never did lower his guard much when it came to working with others. Helena and Hannigan were the rare exceptions. Whatever the case had been, Leon felt guilty. He felt the loss of Fowler far more than he should have. Then again, they both had one thing in common. They were both close friends with Adam Bedford and it seemed like he trusted them both equally. Maybe that's where this Comradery he felt for Fowler had come from.

"I'm sorry, Fowler. You didn't deserve this."

And he truly didn't. He put himself on the line for Jackson Darby and this was the price he paid for it. What was even worse, Wesker had used him to get to this kid and now he was infected and missing. Leon just knew that the old guy would blame himself mercilessly. Leon had to make this right. Fowler's death could not be for nothing. He had to find Jackson before Umbrella and then he had to take those bastards down.

But before any of that, Fowler needed to be laid to rest. He deserved a proper burial as any soldier would. Leon needed to know if he had any family that needed to be told what happened. The veteran agent inhaled and braced himself. He hated breaking bad news to people, especially where death was involved. He hit send on his phone and waited for the President to answer.

"Adam, it's me, Leon. Sir...I'm afraid I have terrible news. It's about William Fowler."

Leon had to work up the nerve to say it.

"I'm sorry, Adam. We lost him"

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It was about two hours until sunrise when Optimus had finished the ground bridge. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough materials to create a space bridge until the previous one was broken down. That would have to come later. Optimus contacted Ratchet through the comm link and his remaining Autobots came through to their new base. Optimus immediately saw Arcee's defeated expression. Whatever she was hoping to happen by switching places with Bulkhead hadn't.

After the rest of the broken down bridge was transported to their new location, the portal was closed and everyone was settled in. Wheeljack wasted no time in finding Bulkhead and Miko. Ratchet and Optimus exchanged vital bits of information before the medic began to unpack what he had brought with him. Arcee had found a far wall to lean against and said nothing to no one. The Prime was as worried for her as for June, who was still resting. He could tell by her exhausted expression that Arcee needed to rest herself. Optimus walked over to her, but she didn't so much as raise her helm when he was before her.

"Arcee." He said calmly.

As she had been since Jack ran away, Arcee was silent.

"You look unwell. It would wise for you to rest while we have the moment."

"We don't _have the moment_ , Optimus." Arcee said suddenly, without looking up. "And I'll rest when we find Jack."

He had seen this in her so many times before and it never failed to worry him. But this time, Optimus was afraid of what Arcee might do and how far she would push herself.

"We have all endured a great deal in these past hours." He said. "Now is the time for us to regain our strength for the war to come. There is much to be done and everyone needs to be at their peak. That includes you."

Arcee finally looked up at Optimus.

"The war to come?" She asked, loudly. "That's what you're worried about, Optimus?"

He could see the frustration building in her.

"What about Jack?! What about what _he_ endured?!"

Everyone turned their heads to Arcee.

"My partner is on the run with Umbrella on his back and you want to take a break?! We don't even know what's going through his head right now!"

"Arcee, calm yourself."

"How can I remain calm?!" She shouted. "How can I rest when someone I care about is missing and I have no idea if he's even still alive?! How can you ask me to do nothing when he needs me, Optimus?!"

The Prime understood why Arcee was shouting, why she was so angry. He could not fault her.

"How are you so calm about this?! Why aren't you, **you** most of all, out there looking for him yourself?! You gave him the Key to Vector Sigma! You went back on your convictions to not kill any humans for his sake! I thought that if anyone would be helping me find Jack, it would be you! So, why?! Why are we still here?!"

Arcee smashed her fist against the wall behind her to emphasize her frustration.

"You love Jack as much as I do and everyone knows about you and June."

Optimus clenched his fist. She was angry, he understood that. But if she dared challenge how much he cared for June Darby...

"When she wakes up in the next few hours, what are you gonna tell her? 'We're too tired, we'll look for your son later?'"

"Jackson is not the only human I have to protect!" Optimus shot back at her, silencing her instantly.

Everyone that was there took a step back. No one had seen Optimus lose his cool like that, not even Ratchet. The Prime looked around behind him and saw the rows of concerned faces. He turned back, but was not focused on Arcee. He lowered his helm and collected his composure. Arcee was still in shock by Optimus' shouting at her. She hadn't said another word.

"I...I want to find Jackson." Optimus said lowly. "I need to find him."

Optimus took a step back and looked down at his servos. He contemplated his absolute failure to protect someone he had come to care for so deeply.

"But there is nothing any of us can do right now...Not without putting the others in danger. Miko, Rafael, June...We have to protect _them._ "

Optimus shut his optics for a moment and then opened them to face the rest of the base, as if addressing them.

"Umbrella has struck and deeply wounded us. We are all weak and exhausted and unable to fight back. For us to begin searching for Jackson right now would put us at risk and our human companions even more. If we were to fall in battle, there would be no one to protect them. We have already lost one of our own."

He was, of course, referring to Agent Fowler.

"I want nothing more than to find Jackson and bring him home. But I will not do so at the expense of anyone else under our protection."

Optimus turned back to Arcee, who had reverted back to her evasive and shut off self. Clearly, Optimus was getting through to her.

"And I know what it is that you are so afraid will happen if we do not find him soon. I, too, hold that fear. But there are others who need our help as well. I will never abandon one for the other. I will search for Jackson, but not before I know the others are alright. Do you understand, Arcee?"

Arcee looked ashamed of herself, but no less lost about the whole thing. When she failed to answer, Optimus did not take it as defiance.

"Arcee...You must rest."

Arcee suddenly clutched her arms tightly.

"I...I can't be in here like this. I...I gotta get out of here."

Arcee moved from her spot and rushed past Optimus. Her anxiety was visibly getting the best of her and she appeared desperate to escape her confines.

"Where's the way out?" She asked urgently.

"Arcee, calm yourself." Ratchet said out of concern.

"Please tell me there's a way out. Don't tell me that we're underwater or something. I need to get out of this place or I'll go crazy."

Optimus was afraid that he would have to restrain Arcee if she became any more erratic. However, he noticed Chris walking up to her.

"Hey, Big Blue." He called to her.

Arcee looked at him at her pede.

"Come on, I'll take ya' up top to the surface."

Arcee took a deep breath and seemed to calm herself.

"Okay." She said with a nod.

Everyone watched as Chris led her to the nearest vehicle lift, all with varying levels of concern. Optimus was more worried than anyone. He predicted that something like this would happen and he figured it would be Arcee since it was her partner this had all happened to. But he wondered who else had a storm of emotion building inside of them. He wondered how long they would be able to hang in there until they found Jackson. How long before one of them lost hope and went off drastically? How long did _he_ have before he lost his mind in worry?

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The long walk from the main lobby to the platform was uncomfortable and awkward for Arcee. She really felt weak and ashamed of her behavior. Chris was notably quiet the entire time they walked together. When they made it to the lift and rose to the surface, the ride up was no less difficult for her. She distracted herself by mentally scolding herself for acting the way she did. She knew that attacking Optimus about not going after Jack was not only wrong, but it was hurtful towards him. She also knew that he was right. She needed to get her head on straight if she was going to be of any use to anyone. But right now, she needed to see something other than walls.

The lift came to a stop and Arcee found herself in what appeared to be the remnants of a burned down building. It was only now that she wondered where this new base was located. She looked down to Chris who was examining the area himself, though it was more to reaffirm what she was thinking.

"Not so pretty on the outside, is it? Come on, this way." He said.

Arcee followed behind Chris as they approached the nearest exit, which was a gigantic hole in the side of the building. As they approached the opening, Arcee began to make out the outside, not seeing a much better condition. When they stepped outside into a very large courtyard, Arcee was taken completely back by what she was looking at.

"Primus." She said in disbelief.

Wherever they were, it used to be a city. Now, it was just ruins. The buildings were half destroyed at best. The streets were cracked. Vehicles, signs, and traffic lights were melted into the concrete. And scattered about the ground were vaguely human shaped imprints that Arcee recognized as "carbon shadows". This was a city that had been destroyed in some kind explosion. It took a second for Arcee to figure out what city.

"Raccoon City." She stated. "We're in Jack's old home."

Chris didn't answer. When she looked at him, she saw that he was giving a signal to someone in the distance. She followed where he was looking and was able to see another B.S.A.A. stationed in a sniper's nest a good distance away. She scanned the area and saw that there were several agents keeping watch around their location. Good, they're not taking any chances. Arcee then turned to look at the building and was shocked even further.

There wasn't much left of the building. The whole top half had been destroyed. But Arcee clearly saw what remained of the logo that had fallen to the ground. It was the same logo that Wesker's men wore.

"This is an Umbrella facility." She said in surprise.

Chris acknowledged her this time, turning to see what she was looking at.

"You are correct, Arcee. Umbrella likes to leave some good real estate behind. Most of the time, we just scavenge the place, hoping to find something of value."

"And what about this place? Why'd did you turn one their main headquarters into a B.S.A.A. blacksite?"

"Because they'd never think we'd do that."

Chris seemed proud of himself at that statement. Clearly, this was his idea.

"Finding the perfect level of isolation for our blacksites is one of the challenges of the B.S.A.A. I don't remember how we learned this, but we found out that there was zero radiation in what remained of the city. Turned out that the missile they used to destroy it wasn't nuclear at all, some type of prototype. I wouldn't know, not my area of expertise."

Chris turned back around and walked over to the remains of large, decorative fountain. He sat on what little was left of the ledge.

"We were able to determine that there was no bio-hazard in the city and instead of reporting it to the government, and by extension Umbrella, we searched the city ourselves and came across this place. Umbrella would never have any reason to come back here in search of anything, so we re-purposed it for our own use. Hidden base underneath a bio-hazard quarantine city, perfect place for a hideout whenever we needed one. Of course, it was only meant for when Umbrella might really be on our asses, like now."

It made sense to Arcee. Having been forced to relocate twice, this was definitely the situation this base was made for.

"Why not before, though?" She asked. "After we lost Jasper?"

"Well...At the time, we didn't know that it was Umbrella that gave our location to the Decepticons and...We didn't think it was smart to bring Jack and his mother back here. I doubt either of them reminisce on this place much."

Arcee turned back to the city to really take in what she was seeing. This is where it all happened, where Jack's nightmare began.

"I can't believe Umbrella did this. They caused this whole city to be destroyed." Arcee said.

"That's why I wonder how they expect to create a new world when all they _do_ is destroy."

"This place...It reminds me of Cybertron."

Chris looked up at Arcee.

"Your home?"

Arcee paused before answering.

"No...not anymore. It's as barren and dead as this city. Only _we_ destroyed everything. There isn't anywhere on Cybertron that doesn't look like this. It's just ball of scrap metal now."

Arcee didn't see that Chris was relating to her.

"It's not like we're any better. As you can see from here, we have the technology to do damage of our own."

"I suppose you do. But your leaders have restraint. Umbrella doesn't."

"Hence, why we're all here."

The two of them were silent for a little while. Their brief conversation served to temporarily distract Arcee from her true dilemma, regarding her partner.

"You're thinking about Jack, aren't you?" Chris asked.

Arcee continued to stare at the ruined city.

"I just want him back."

"Look, Arcee...No one's giving up on Jack. We're just licking our wounds right now, trying to figure out the next play. So much has happened in the last twenty-four hours and we're all just trying to come to grips with it, especially the little ones."

Arcee lowered her helm, again reminded of her less then flattering display from earlier.

"I shouldn't have said that to Optimus." She said.

"No, you shouldn't have." Chris answered. "But I don't think anyone's holdin' it against you. We're all under a lot of stress right now."

Of course, Arcee's stress was more than visible in her expression.

"But that's not what your really worried about, is it?" He asked.

Silence gave Chris his answer.

"He's somewhere out there and we don't have a clue where to start looking. Plus, he's changed now. Umbrella definitely got the results they wanted by infecting him. So now, they have even more reason to look for him." He stated.

Arcee was gripping her arms tighter.

"But what really worries you is what Jack's gonna do...You're scared that he's gonna try to..."

"Please, stop." Arcee pleaded quietly.

Chris didn't go any further for a moment. But Arcee knew she needed to hear this, as much as she didn't want to.

"Okay...Here's the thing, Blue. Everything I just said is true and we both know it. But, there's other things you have to take into account."

"Like what?" She asked lowly.

"First off, Wesker's down."

Arcee lifted her helm in thought. Chris was right, Jack _did_ hurt Wesker pretty badly.

"I doubt he's dead, but after what Jack did to him, he's out of commission for a least a little while. No Wesker means no Umbrella on Jack's trail."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because I know Wesker. He's as arrogant as he ever was and he would only trust himself to get the job done. If he's not leading the search himself, he wouldn't even bother sending someone in his place. By the time he gets back on his feet, Jack will be so far out of his range, he'll be as clueless on where he is as we are right now. That means, we get a head start."

Arcee hadn't thought of that. A little as it was, it was hope she desperately needed.

"Second, Jack's a sharp kid. He's not gonna stay in one spot and wait for Wesker to come find him. He's knows what happens if he gets captured and he doesn't _want_ that to happen. He'll know to stay off the grid and away from people, for his sake and theirs. Third, and you're gonna hate to hear this, but Jack's change is gonna work in his favor."

Chris was right again, Arcee hated to hear that.

"Hear me out. He took down the Tyrants that the 'Bots couldn't and he did it pretty easily. Like it or not, Jack has the ability to protect himself out there thanks to the G-Virus. From Umbrella or any other threat out there, he's not helpless."

Unfortunately, there was another part of that Arcee was also worried about.

"And as hard as it is to believe, I think Jack's still in there." He continued.

Arcee then looked to Chris.

"Do you really?" Arcee asked with true hope.

"Think about it. He killed the Tyrants, but he ran from us. He might've had that blank expression on his face when he was fighting B.O.W.s. but at no point did turn his claws on us. I've seen something like this before. The G-Virus probably gave him a defense mechanism that puts him on the attack if he's threatened. But he's still aware enough to recognize us."

Again, Arcee thought about what Chris was saying.

"Some of our guys said they saw him running out of the facility. Some even tried to go after him. He evaded them, but didn't attack. Outside of the base, we found some Umbrella Ops, what was left of them anyway." Chris continued.

Both of them took a second to process that.

"Jack knows the difference between us and them when his defenses are turned on. I can't be a hundred percent positive, but I don't think he's a danger to anyone unless they're a direct threat to him. And like I said, he'll be staying away from anyone he thinks might trigger him."

Chris was making a lot of sense and Arcee was beginning to have hope that they could find Jack. But there was still the one thing she was truly afraid of happening. But as if Chris could read her mind...

"I wish I could say he wouldn't try, or even think about it." He began. "But I've seen it too many times with my team. The thought definitely crossed his mind at least once. In all likelihood, he might try to take his life."

And just like that, Arcee's hope shattered like glass.

"But I just don't think he can."

For a second, Arcee didn't process that. But when she did, she looked back to Chris.

"What do mean by that?"

Chris looked up at Arcee.

"You saw it yourself, Arcee. Jack got impaled twice by the Tyrants, but he still killed them all. He took a hit from Wesker but he got back up and put the bastard on his ass. Then he ran out of there with inhuman speed and still managed to take out another group of Umbrella grunts. Jill might've been right about Jack being Umbrella's ultimate weapon. From what I can see, he's basically unkillable."

Arcee looked away and closed her optics by the sheer absurdness of it all.

"So, what you're saying is that Jack will try to kill himself, but he won't succeed."

She looked to Chris and saw that wasn't comforting knowledge to him either.

"He has to have limits to what he can take. But unless his mutation gave him his own set of blasters, no, I don't think he'll be able to do it."

Again, Arcee was silent. All of this was too much for her. It provided her with some comfort, but knowing how it happened, it disgusted her. Not that she was disgusted with Jack, but Umbrella for putting him in that situation. She couldn't help but think of Jack trying and failing to end his life repeatedly. The thought broke her spark.

"Arcee...We both know that wherever Jack is right now, he's not in a good place. And when we find him, and we _will_ find him, we may have to bring him back by force. Jack probably thinks himself as the ultimate liability and a danger to mankind, so we have our work cut out for us when we bring him home. That's why we need you down there. You're closer to Jack than anyone and if _anyone_ can break through to him, it's you."

Chris walked over to Arcee and stood in front of her.

"And he's the not the only one who needs you. June isn't gonna be much better when she wakes up. She can't see you losing your head like this. Everything I said isn't what either of us want to hear, but it's all we got right now. But Jack is still alive and we still have a chance. We can save him."

She was scared to hope for that, but even more scared of losing Jack.

"Right now, we just need to take a breather, especially you. Jack wouldn't want you to make yourself crazy like this. Just give us a day and we'll all be out there looking for him together. We'll get to him before Umbrella does. I know we will."

Arcee's reluctance to hope for a miracle was slowly beginning to fade. But she was still scared out of her mind. But Chris' logic couldn't be ignored. He had many good points and each of them made her believe that they could save her partner. It wasn't much, but like Chris said, it was all they had.

"We should head back down. The big guy's probably worried about you."

Chris walked past her but stopped when she didn't get up.

"Arcee?"

Once again, she kept looking off in the distance of Raccoon City.

"You go on ahead. I'm just gonna stay up here a little while."

Chris paused for a few seconds, but decided to give Arcee her solitude.

"Thank you, Chris." She said.

"Don't mention, Blue." He replied.

Their conversation did manage to restore some hope in Arcee. She never intended to give up on her partner. But now, she no longer felt like she had already failed. She could still save him. She could still hold on your partner.

But there was one thing that Chris didn't have an answer for and it was just as worrisome as all the others. When they found Jack, when they brought him home, what then? He was a B.O.W. now. Even after they destroy Umbrella, what would happen to him? Would the government take him away? Would they quarantine him for fear of him spreading the G-Virus? Would they try to experiment on him like Umbrella would? Those thoughts scared her as much as anything else. Jack was changed. No matter what happens in the future, things were never going back to the way they were.

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"I don't believe this..."

Jack stood up on his knees, but he was slouched over with his hand on his bare chest. There was blood and there was even a faint feeling of having been struck in the spot he was holding. All that was missing was the hole he put in his heart.

"It can't be...no."

Jack didn't know what to think. He knew he pierced his heart when he impaled himself, unless his heart had been moved during the mutation. But he could feel it still pulsing in his chest. So, how? How was he still alive?

"This can't be happening."

His mind was racing and he felt that he was losing it. Fate couldn't be this cruel to him. It wouldn't take his only way out away from him, would it? Jack had to be sure. He lifted his right arm up and then he looked at his left hand. With a mere thought, another black blade protruded from his wrist, no bigger than an average sized pocket knife. He put the blade to his wrist and cut across it. It bled, quite a lot. But after about ten seconds, the wound closed up and disappeared.

"No." Jack said with wide eyes.

His body could regenerate, meaning he could not die. Umbrella had taken even that away from him, his way to ensure they wouldn't get him. Jack let his arms drop and sat in the forest with his mouth agape in fear. There was no escape. He was trapped in this body, for all he knew, forever.

"No, no...There has to be a way!"

Jack then balled his fist and produced a shortened talon from atop the wrist. With both hands, he brought it to his stomach and held it over his belly. He was hesitant. This would be extricating. Taking several panicked breaths, Jack shut his eyes and pushed his talon into the side of his belly. He painfully cried through his teeth. He braced himself again and began pulling it to the other side of his stomachs, once more, letting out guttural screams of pain as his talon pulled out his intestines. He felt the blood rise from his throat and come out from between his teeth.

Jack fell forward on his hands as his guts hung from his opening. He was choking and gasping on his blood. The pain was indescribable, far worse than his eye. Jack waited to black out, but then he felt the pain subside. This caused him to panic. He stood up again and looked down at his wound. It was already closing up, the intestines being pulled back into him.

"No, no, no!" He said as felt his now healed stomach.

He was hyperventilating now, growing more desperate. He looked at his talon and caused it to straighten and elongate. Suddenly, he began stabbing himself angrily, grunting with each strike. He felt the pain each time he struck his body, but he didn't care. Tears fell from his face and his panic had only gotten worse when he realized that nothing he was doing felt like it was weakening him.

Jack fell forward in exhaustion, but only from the effort of inflicting his wounds. He gasped as he caught his breath and then he felt his wounds closing again. Once the pain stopped, he began sobbing as he stayed as he was, hunched over with his head against the ground. He screamed out in anger and frustration. Even after being forced down to his absolute bottom, he couldn't get away.

Jack rolled over on his back and put his right arm over his eyes as he continued to cry hopelessly. He stayed that way for a while. Jack was truly lost and had no idea what to do. He wished so terribly that he wasn't alone. And that drove his anger even further because he had no choice but to be alone. And if he really couldn't die, this was going to be all he would know from now on. Jack choked up painfully, his teeth clenched so hard, they threatened to crack.

Jack them brought his fist under his chin. If striking his heart wouldn't work, then maybe striking his brain would do the trick. Jack wasn't sure either way, but he had nothing else to lose. But just before he could will his lethal appendage, he stopped himself. Jack thought for a moment about the ramifications of what he was about to do. If he did this and it didn't work, he wasn't sure if he would be unaffected. Striking the heart and intestines was one thing, but if he struck his brain, would he begin to lose himself? He was still himself mentally, still remembered who he was and who his family was. But with the regeneration of the brain, would he lose those memories, the only thing that kept him human? Would he become another feral B.O.W. with the instinct to kill without reason?

Jack let his fist fall back to the ground. He couldn't take the risk. It really was all hopeless for him. There was just no waking up from this nightmare. Jack continued to lie on the ground, hoping for some kind of clue of what to do. He hated what he had become. He hated his own skin. All he had was his mind and his memories. He needed to hold on to them if he was going stay sane. Umbrella wasn't going to take that from him. They took his human body, but they were not going to take his mind...or his humanity.

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Arcee went back down into the base when the sun came up. There was still too much on her mind for her to get the rest she knew she needed. Her talk with Chris had helped her, but she was still in the same bad place. Nothing was going to fix that except for finding Jack.

As she searched for an empty room to make her quarters, she saw Optimus standing in a large doorway. She knew she owed him an apology for what she said. Arcee walked up to him as he had his back turned. He didn't seem to notice her.

"S-Sir?" She shamefully called.

Optimus didn't respond.

"Sir, I...I'd like to apologize for my earlier behavior...For what I said."

Optimus still didn't respond. Arcee feared that her actions had crossed the line with him.

"I was wrong to say those things, Sir. I...wasn't in a right frame of mind...I'm still not, if I'm honest. I'm just...I'm terrified that I'm never going to see my partner again. I know that I was out of line to talk to you that way, Sir. I swear that it won't happen again."

But Optimus remained quiet.

"Sir?...Optimus."

Arcee moved around him and saw that Optimus hadn't been paying attention to her, as he seemed surprised to see her.

"Arcee." He stated.

"Sir, what are you..."

Arcee looked to where he was staring and he saw what was holding his attention. June was in her wheelchair, turned away from them. Arcee looked back to Optimus and saw that he had refocused on June. She went over to see if she had woken up. Jill had been crouched in front of her, holding one of her hands. Arcee saw the worried look on her face when she turned to greet her. Arcee then looked to June and understood why Jill was so worried.

June was as still as a statue and her expression was as blank as Jack's when he fought the Tyrants. Her blue eyes were dull and lifeless as they stared off into a void that the others could not see.

"She woke up hours ago." Jill said. "She hasn't said a single word."

Arcee looked on in disturbance.

"What's wrong with her?"

Jill motioned her mouth to answer, but didn't have one right away.

"We think...We think she's in shock. Seeing what happened to her son and then him running away from her...It was too much. It's like she just...shut down."

Arcee felt a heavy short in her spark because she had been where June was right now. All this time she had felt sorry for herself, she never stopped to think what June was going through.

"June?" She called her. "June, are you alright?"

But June didn't respond, not even with the smallest of facial tics. This was beginning to scare Arcee. She tried to pull her attention by touching her shoulder.

"June...Hey, it's Arcee. C'mon, snap out of it."

"Arcee, I don't think that's gonna work any better than it did for us." Jill said.

Arcee was starting to get upset again.

"June, look at me. Come on, say something." She said as the emotion in her voice grew. "June...What's wrong? Please, talk to me."

But June neither made noise nor moved. Now, the pain of her failure returned to Arcee.

"June, I-I know what you're doing."

She was beginning to sound desperate.

"You can't give up. You can't give up on us. Jack's is still out there. He's still alive, Chris told me."

Optimus began to move forward as Arcee's became more emotional.

"Chris said that he's is okay, that Umbrella won't find him."

Arcee knew she had a much better way to explain this, but she couldn't keep herself calm.

"June, you gotta hang in hang in there, okay?"

"Arcee." Jill called to her in concern.

"We gotta hang in there for Jack. We're gonna bring him home."

"Arcee, please." Optimus said.

"No, June listen."

Arcee took her time.

"We're gonna bring him back, I promise. Please, just...Don't give up on me yet."

"I'm sorry you had to see this, Arcee." Optimus said as he went to lead her away. "But she needs her rest."

"June, please... _Please don't shut down like I did. You can't let yourself go there."_

Optimus began pulling the upset Arcee away as gently as he could.

" _I didn't protect him, I know. But I'll make this right, I promise_."

"Let's leave her be, Arcee."

" _I'll find him, June. I swear, I'll find him. I won't mess this up. You'll be with your son again. I promise, June_."

Arcee was led out of the room and let go by Optimus. When she was out of earshot, she began to mimic crying as she had before.

"I know that was...not easy to see." Optimus said.

Arcee looked at him and saw that he was holding himself together better than she, but he was hurting just as much.

"She's doing what I did...with Tailgate."

Optimus shut his optics.

"Yes...she's losing hope, and with it, her strength."

"She can't." Arcee said lowly. "Sir?"

Optimus gave Arcee his attention.

"I'll...I'll try to keep myself in check while we recover from all this. But we can't let this go on."

"No, Arcee...We cannot."

"Everyday without her son is killing June. She needs him more than any of us."

"I know. That is why we will take a forty-eight hour recovery period. Then, we will begin our search for Jackson."

"Two days, huh?...I guess I can live with that."

Arcee held her arm, remembering what she had said to Optimus before.

"Sir, about my behavior from earlier."

"Your outburst towards me is of no importance. And we cannot afford the luxury of holding grudges. Our focus now is recovering from our current state and finding one of our own. Do you agree?"

"Y-yes, Sir."

Optimus placed his servo on Arcee's shoulder.

"We both want to bring him home and we want her to be okay. If we are going to accomplish this task, we have to handle this the right way."

"Of course, Optimus."

Optimus turned back to look at June and Jill, once again, holding his gaze. Arcee believed that he was also thinking about Jack.

"You had mentioned to June of Chris' belief that Umbrella will not be able to find Jack. Was that what you two had discussed on the surface?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Please, tell me what he told you. If he believes that Jack is safe from Umbrella, at least for now, I'd like the know how."

Or rather, he needed to know that Jack was safe for now. Arcee understood the need of it. She began to repeat her conversion with Chris to Optimus, hoping it would raise his hope of finding Jack. But there was still so much despondency around the new base. As anxious and worried as Arcee was, Optimus was right to take the time to get better. No one one was in any physical form or state of mind to search for Jack. After less than half a day since Umbrella's attack, everyone was still weak. So, they had to be patient and Arcee had to hope that Chris was right about his theories. And she had to keep herself balanced until it was time to find her partner. She just hoped that June would still be able to come back once they found him.

'Stay with us, June, please.' She thought to herself.

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Jack was crouched over the very large fire he had built. It was a good thing he held onto his Swiss army knife with the fire starter. He looked at it for a moment, determining if it was big enough.

"Looks about right." He said.

Jack then walked over to the large cat he had killed and began dragging his corpse over to the fire. He had made sure to make it big enough to handle the feline. With his new strength, he lifted the felis up and tossed it on the fire and watched as it began to burn. He felt sorry for the beast. Even though he only fed on it to survive, he had wonder if he killed it quickly or brutally. He'd hoped for the former.

"Hopefully, that burns the virus away."

Jack wasn't taking any chances. He'd even built the fire over the pool of blood from where he stabbed himself. He couldn't leave any of his blood or a corpse he might have spread the virus to unchecked. All it would take was one rat, one mosquito, one flea to ingest the virus and another outbreak would happen. As the fire continued to burn, he searched the area to make sure he'd left nothing behind, not a drop of DNA. Of course, any blood in the soil was probably already absorbed, so it'd be impossible to find. He prayed that it wasn't enough to mutate an earthworm or a beetle or something.

Jack then looked down and saw his blood stained jeans and shoes on the ground.

"These too."

He picked both up and tossed them into the fire as well. He held onto his Swiss army knife. Every time he fed, he would have to do this again, so he was going to need it. Jack waited for hours until he was sure the cat was burned enough that the virus was burned with it. It was already past noon when he was satisfied.

Jack still had no idea where in the world he was or what he was going to do. All he knew was that if he was going to stay out of Umbrella's hands, he had to keep moving. First thing, he would need new clothes. He really didn't want to travel naked. He planned to search for an empty summer cabin somewhere in the forest. He didn't like that he was going to have to steal from someone, but he didn't really have a choice. If luck wasn't on his side, however, he resolved not to go into town for clothes. That was something he was firmly stuck on, staying away from where there was people. After that, he'd just keep moving. If he couldn't end himself, he had to keep himself out of Umbrella's reach. That was the only plan he had.

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Unknown desert in the southwest US

Two weeks had passed since Jack had been out on his own, since he had become infected and abandoned his family. During that time, a lot had changed in Jack.

Not long after he began his journey, Jack had figured out that he was in Argentina. Deciding that it was best to get out of the country, he began making his way to the border. This was the last country he had been seen in, so it was the last place he wanted to be. At first, he had no real destination in mind, he just wanted to get out. Then, he remembered his geography. He realized that he could make it back to the United States from Argentina, which gave him an idea. Jack decided that he was going to go back to Jasper.

There was nothing there. He knew that. The Decepticons had destroyed everything and there was no chance of any life there. That's what he was hoping for. Jack figured that Umbrella would not search where they knew nothing would be there for him. And if even a small part of Omega One remained, maybe he could at least pretend to be back home like it was. So, Jack headed north. Using his enhanced speed and staying off the grid, he was able to cross the border undetected in just under two weeks.

During his travels, he had learned a bit about his new abilities. He still hated to have them, but if he was going to be without the Autobots, he knew he needed to rely on them. He figured out how to control them at will and keep them in check. He didn't know his limits because he would have to test of them on something that wasn't infected and, of course, he didn't want that. But he had more or less become accustomed to his new form, even if he still resented it. If ever found a way to destroy himself, he would not hesitate. He was a weapon of mass infection as far as he was concerned and he needed to be erased.

After getting past the border into Texas, Jack began to make his way back to Nevada while sticking to the desert if he could. His travels from the south had forced him to move through human crowds more than he wished and he felt he had pushed his luck already. Jack decided to hold back on using his speed for a while, just to keep a low profile. His paranoia had risen over the last two weeks and he was afraid of everything from drones to satellites tracking his movements.

At some point, he had found a cave that turned out to be a stripped energon mine belonging to the Decepticons. Though there was nothing there and appeared to have been abandoned for years, Jack left the area in fear that a Decepticon could be nearby. That was the last thing he needed, to be captured by them. Lord knows what Airachnid would do if she saw him now. However, it wasn't the last piece of of Decepticon territory Jack would find.

The area he had come to must've been a hot spot in the past, as Jack continued to find more and more stripped mines belonging to 'Cons. Then, he started finding downed aircrafts that had been left to rust for at least a decade. None of them were online or functioned in any capacity. After a while, he decided that they had been forgotten and would be safe to rest in one if he had become too tired from traveling.

As it was, he had found the remains of one in some desert and rock area and decided to regain his strength once again. As far as food went, there was slim pickings in these parts. Having long since become used to hunting his meat, Jack had become use to forest creatures while coming up from the south. With the much smaller creatures of the desert, Jack became tired much quicker. He found a secluded spot in the heart of the ship. He sat against the bottom of a panel and let his mind wander.

Moments like this, he thought of his family, of Arcee and his mother. He thought of Optimus, Jill, Miko, and Raf. He missed all of them. He prayed that they were doing okay. He took comfort in knowing that with him gone, Umbrella wouldn't be focusing on them. But he also knew that _they_ were. They were looking for him, he knew that. And he didn't want them to find them. It hurt to be apart them, to be running away from them. But Jack wouldn't put them in harms way. This was the only way to keep them safe. But Primus, if only he had taken a picture of them with him. For all he knew, he would live forever, outliving even the Autobots. If that was the case, then he'd have nothing to remember them by when they were gone. Thinking that way terrified him. Eventually, however, Jack did manage to drift into a cautious sleep. He still had a way to go to make it back home, what was left of it anyway.

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A familiar sound pulled Jack out of his sleep and he knew what it was the moment he heard it. He knew what a charging energon blaster sounded like.

'Frag me.' He thought.

Jack opened his eyes and sure enough, he was staring down the glowing barrel of a Cybertronian weapon. And of course, it was black metal with glowing red lines. So, now he had a Decepticon to deal with. Jack, honestly, was too tired to be scared. Maybe he had just had enough by this point or maybe it was because he had taken out multiple Tyrants and just did not feel threatened. Whatever it was, all he felt was annoyed. Jack tilted himself to the side to see who was holding him at gunpoint. He did so and got a good look at the triggerman's angry face.

"Oh...Hey, Starscream."

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 **"Oh, hi Mark."**  
 **No, Jack didn't actually greet him that way.**  
 **Okay, okay, very late again. I know, I know, the holidays took me by surprise and I fell very much behind. I'm never on top of my game this time year, especially when I'm searching for a collectors edition Reverse-Flash action figure for my nephew all over Florida. Why is that figure so popular?**  
 **Anyway, finally got back to Old Nightmare after, God, I don't even know. I know you wanted to see more of Jack's powers, but I'm just trying to unwind the characters after last chapter. As you can see, everyone is back to square one.**  
 **Jack, unfortunately, had hit rock bottom and I hope his actions didn't trigger anyone, but he took the only out he saw. Understand that Jack thinks he is going to bring about the end of humanity and thought that this was the right thing to do. Thankfully, the G-Virus won't let him die so easily.**  
 **As for everyone else, there not doing much better. Arcee got a little pep talk from Chris, but she's still scared out of her mind. Optimus is holding together because he has to, but we don't know how he's doing when no one's around. Miko is as worried for Jack as Arcee is and June has shut down completely. I didn't cover everyone's feelings this chapter because I didn't want it to be longer than it already was. We'll get pieces of it as the story continues.**  
 **And look who shows up late in the game and crosses paths with Jack. Bear in mind, Starscream has no idea of what's been going on since he left the Decepticons. So what's he gonna think when he sees what Jack can do? So, after probably two months I'm back on this story. Once I get another chapter of ASOG, I'll be back to this. Paths are gonna start to converge and you know what that means when it happens in other stories. I'm really excited to be back on this I hope you guys are still with me. Let me know what you think and of course, Happy New Years. Here's to the year of the Dog.**


	38. Chapter 38

The last time Jack had encountered Starscream was coming out of the shadowzone, along with Miko and Raf. As far as the Autobots were concerned, they had last seen him during the encounter with Megatron the night Jack was taken by Umbrella. Since then, he had been absent from every run-in they had with them. He wasn't even there during the attack on Outpost Omega One. Not that it mattered to Jack anyway. There had been much bigger things to worry about these past few months than why old screamer was always a no show. But here he was now, in an abandoned 'Con spacecraft, seemingly alone, and looking none too happy with his present company.

Jack looked up at Starscream behind his blaster with a tired and bored expression. He honestly didn't care what happened at this point. Worst case scenario, he dies, Umbrella gets fragged over, and the world is safe. But Starscream was evidently more concerned with the situation, if the poorly hidden panic beneath his ticked off expression was of any indication.

"Where are they?" He asked lowly, but aggressively.

"What?" Jack asked in a tired tone.

"Where are they?!" He yelled a little. "Where are the Autobots?!"

Again, Jack was just too tired to care.

"How should I know?"

Starscream growled in frustration and moved his blaster closer to Jack.

"Don't play games with me, you disgusting human. You're one of the Autobots annoying little pets that like getting in our way. If you're here, then they're here. So tell me where they are!"

"Not here."

Starscream looked dumbfounded, probably more for that fact that Jack was not intimidated at all by his presence.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?!"

"Yes."

"Argh!" Starscream pitifully growled.

He raised his blaster and shot at the ceiling of the room they were in before putting it back on Jackson, causing hot smoke to wash over him. This just annoyed him.

"Now then, how many are here? Is Optimus Prime with them? Did you bring the Decepticons with you? Did you lead them here?!"

That intrigued Jack because that meant that Starscream was indeed on his own. And the way the urgency of his voice rose with the last two questions, he was clearly on the run from them.

"The Autobots aren't here, Starscream."

Jack's answer only confused Starscream...which just pissed him off. Starscream growled...again...and suddenly reached out with his servo, snatching Jackson off the ground and holding up to optic level. As he raised him up, Jack felt a familiar instinct kicking in and struggled to keep it in check.

'No.' He thought.

"Now, I'm going to ask you one last time, human. Where are your Autobots masters?"

As much as Jack didn't want to be dealing with Starscream right then, he most certainly didn't want to lose control again and have another blackout, like back at the blacksite. Over the last two weeks, he had gained some modicum of control over his mutation and kept himself from using it unless he needed to. But with Starscream threatening him like this, his defense was activated and felt himself slipping into what had begun referring to as the "green zone".

"Answer me, meat bag!"

"Put me down, Starscream." Jack urgently asked.

"Don't give me orders, you little..."

Starscream was too angry to think of a proper insult.

"Either you tell me where they are or I'll fly you into the stratosphere and eject you into space."

Jack felt his right eye pulse.

"I'm warning you. Put me down, now. I'm not kidding."

"Warning-Warning Me?! Who do you think you're talking to?! I am Lord Starscream, Rogue Decepticon!"

That didn't make any sense.

"You are a mere bag of meat a bones from a ball of dirt and rock. How dare you threaten..."

As Starscream ranted on about how great he was and how Jack was beneath him, the teen felt himself drift into the green light he came to dread. He soon dropped his head as if he had lost consciousness.

"You cannot begin to fathom the torment I can bring upon insignificant vermin like you. You'll know pain far beyond what you can-ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"

Jack's response was to lift his head and stare straight up at Starscream, his eye glowing brightly once again.

"Your eye...What's wrong with your eye?"

Several thin spikes then protruded from Jack's body and pierced through Starscream's servo, making him yell in pain, along with shock. He tried to let Jack go, but was unable to open his servo up. The spikes then retreated back into their host and Jack fell from Starscream's grasp. He landed safely on one knee and Starscream pulled his hand back and examined what was done to it. He took several steps back and turned to Jackson on the ground, far beyond angry at this point.

"That was a big mistake!"

He raised his armed blaster and fired directly into Jack. To his shock, Jack wasn't vaporized in an instant, but thrown back into the panel instead. When he fell forward, he had left a dent on the hard metal. Jack stood straight and Starscream saw that his body had completely changed. His flesh had become black and hardened like pure carbon. His human features were no longer visible on his face, except for his glowing eye. His hardened form symmetrically broke apart and softened, before seeping back into his skin, leaving Starscream further confused.

"What is this?!" Starscream asked in a panic. "What's happened to you?!"

Jack's answer was not a verbal one. He whipped his hand and shot out another vine from his palm, which latched on Starscream's throat. With the clench of his digits, Jack pulled himself up to Starscream and made his way around to the back of his neck. Producing a second vine from his other hand, he connected it the first and began tightening them as he crossed his arms and began strangling Starscream. The Seeker began to choke as his energon lines were being cut off. He fell to his knees and hunched forward as he began to weaken, which allowed Jackson to tighten his hold even more. He then connected the vines into his left palm, leaving his right free. Drawing his arm back, an onyx spike came out from above his fist. Jack was ready to pierce it through the back of Starscream's helm and out of his front, but when he jerk his fist forward, he stopped just before it could touch him.

Jack's green eye began to dim and his face showed signs of struggle. His arm shook as if it were being pulled from two sides. Jack's expressions were returning and he was able to shut his eyes and look away.

"No." He grimaced. "No...I'm not a weapon...I'm not a weapon."

He was thinking of the Tyrants, who acted on orders and lacked any control or will. He felt like them whenever he was like this. Jack grimaced and groaned as he struggled to regain control.

"I'm Jackson Darby." He struggled to say. "I'm Jackson Darb-"

Jack was suddenly cut off when Starscream rose to his pedes and threw himself down on his back. Jack's vines were released and Starscream picked himself back up and backed away into the console behind him with his blaster raised. He coughed out the static in his voice box and stared at the human that was indented in the ground. Once again, he was armored.

Jack stood back up and his eye was glowing brightly again. His instincts had retaken him. Starscream shifted his servo back and armed his missile. Wasting no time, he loosed the missile and it hit Jackson dead on, exploding on impact.

Starscream didn't even have a second to breath in relief when Jack emerged from the smoke without a single scratch on his smooth, black surface. Starscream quickly raised his other missile, but his arm was pierced by a shard projectile and caused him to fire his missile into the wall. Jack stood there with his palm opened and a hole in the center of it that was quickly closing up.

As Jack's armored form broke apart and absorbed back into his skin, he fired another shard into Starscream's shoulder, which threw him back into his console and made him slide down on his aft. He looked on in horror as Jack slowly approached him with the blankest of expressions, his eye illuminating green.

"Stay away from me!"

Jack's reply was to shoot out another vine at Starscream's neck again. It wrapped around it and Jack tightened it with one hand, once again, strangling Starscream. The seeker felt his energon being cut off once more and his frame beginning to weaken. His optics were dimming and he was about to fall into stasis.

Suddenly, Jack's face change and he realized what was happening again. He began breathing heavy in a panic and quickly released Starscream. His vine retreated back into his palm and Jack fell on his hands and knees. It happened again, he'd lost control. He thought he was beginning to get a handle on it, but all it took was an single act of aggression, not even a threat to him, and Jack reacted. It was just like Wesker said, he reacted on instinct and attacked at the slightest sign of danger. This was exactly why he was on the run and why he couldn't be with his family. This was why he needed to die.

"Oh, God." He whispered.

It just hit Jack there. Not even a blast from a Cybertronian could kill him. That was his last hope, the only way he thought he could keep himself out of Umbrella's hands. Now, that was lost...along with everything else.

Starscream managed to stand back up, not wanting to get near Jack.

"What the frag are you?!" He yelled.

"I warned you...I warned you to let me go." Jack weakly said, still on his hands and knees.

Starscream could only stare, too horrified to even respond in his usual manner. Jack got up off his hands, but was still on his knees.

"Get the hell out of here, Starscream." He said gently.

The only reason Starscream didn't scoff at Jack having the gall to kick him out of his own control room was because he was too scared to even try.

"I said go!" Jack yelled.

Starscream didn't have to be told a third time, but Jack said it anyway.

"Go!"

Starscream was out the door and halfway down the corridor. Jack hunched forward, his head burying into his hands on the ground. He really wasn't human anymore. Everytime he lost himself, he was reminded of that.

"I'm not a weapon...I'm not a weapon."

Lies...Jack knew what he was. A weapon was exactly what he had become, a perfect weapon, a weapon capable of adapting and modifying itself for any purpose. He was a sword, a shield, an arrow, a whip and God knows what else. He was the _ultimate_ weapon, just like Jill had said way back when. But he wasn't Umbrella's weapon. Jack was never going to be theirs. Either he'd kill himself or them before he'd let happen. but unfortunately, he had no idea how to do either.

Jack didn't know what the do anymore. Alone and in a Decepticon ship, Jack was truly lost.

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Leon and Helena looked on as The President observed Fowler's headless body beneath the tarp. As a politician, he was very good at hiding his emotions. But Leon could see it in his eyes, the sadness, the loss. William was his friend...and now, he was gone.

"Why didn't you just fall back when I told you to?" Benford said in regret.

President Benford lowered the tarp. He couldn't look at him any longer. He rested his hands on the metal table with his head lowered.

" _I'm sorry, William. I didn't want this_."

"This isn't your fault, Sir." Helena said. "This is on Umbrella, not you."

"No..." He said. "Everything that happens to him or either of you is on me...Because I am the President. That means that I make the decisions...and I carry the guilt when they get someone killed."

This was one of the may reasons that Leon never led a team of his own before now. He didn't want to carry the burden of a whole team on his back, or the risk of letting them down or leading them to their deaths. He always worked better on his own, or at best, with a single partner.

"Did he have any family?" Leon asked.

"A mother in South Carolina...An ex-wife, if that counts for anything. No kids. His work was his life."

Adam Benford looked back up, directly at his subordinates.

"What about Jackson Darby?"

"He's still in the wind, Sir. We have no idea where he might be." Leon answered.

"We have to find him before Umbrella does. Fowler wanted to protect that young man. He can not have died for nothing."

As much as Leon hated to lie to the President, who was also his friend, he neglected to tell him about Jack being infected. He wanted to give the kid a fighting chance to live through this, but he knew the President would have to make a hard call Leon didn't want to think about. June Darby was broken enough, he didn't want to twist the knife further.

"You two head back to the Autobots. Keep me informed if anything develops."

"Sir." Helena answered.

"Sir." Leon followed.

Both of them lingered on Fowler's body for a few moments longer. It was decided that he would be cremated and his remains scattered over his hometown in North Carolina. There was at least enough of him to do that. Leon and Helena left The President alone with Fowler's body.

"I was told that William was last seen leaving the premise with Derek Simmons."

Both Leon and Helena stopped where they were. Leon began clenching his fists.

"There is no doubt in my mind that he is responsible for this."

Leon turned around and saw the President look directly at him.

"When you bring down Umbrella...I want you to nail that son of a bitch to the wall. And then, I want you to drag his goddamn name through the dirt. I want this country to know who Derek Simmons really is."

Leon had never seen the President this way, but then, nothing had ever struck so close to home, aside from his daughter being kidnapped. This was personal to Adam Benford. After everything that happened, it was personal to Leon as well. Fowler was a good man. He deserved justice for what Umbrella did to him.

Leon and Helena left the White House with an understanding of what was expected of them. But neither knew how to accomplish that. There were still so many pieces left before they could begin to tear Umbrella down.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Leon and Helena were bridged back to Raccoon City. That felt strange to think about to Leon, being back where it all began. He was approached by Optimus Prime, who had clearly been spending time with June, if his dispirited demeanor was anything to go by.

"How did President Benford respond to the news of Agent Fowler's death?"

"He was...upset, even if he didn't show it. He wants to do right by Fowler."

"As do we all, Agent Kennedy."

"We decided that when this had all been settled, we're going to give him a proper send off in his hometown. Fowler deserved that much."

"Is it...possible that my me and my Autobots be allowed to attend his Funeral?"

"We'd have to get the okay from The President, but Fowler would definitely want you guys to be there."

"He'd want Jack there too." Helena added. "Any news?"

All the Autobots became even more discouraged at the question.

"I see." She replied to the atmosphere.

"Jackson is proving to be most difficult to locate. Even with the assistance of Rafael, we've been unable to track his whereabouts." Optimus said.

"Kid's stayin' off the grid." Barry added. "Smart move."

"Yeah, well." Chris began. "With the way he is now, he's probably too scared to be around people. What's the news on his blood?"

Josh stepped forward.

"Doctor Jenkins is studying the sample of Jackson's infected blood. She says that she is close to developing a vaccine for the G-Virus."

Leon turned to Arcee, who as expected, stopped what she was doing and turned to Josh.

"Could she make a cure Jack's blood, Josh, something that could fix him?"

Josh went to answer, but Leon could see his hesitance to crush the little bit of hope that Arcee had just grabbed on to.

"Arcee..." Leon began. "There _is_ no way to fix Jack."

And just as he figured, Arcee's expression fell.

"You _don't_ know that." She desperately said.

"I'm afraid, I do. I've seen it for six years. Once the viruses take effect, there's no way for it to be undone. I'm sorry, Arcee, but...Jack's change is permanent. There's no going back for him."

Arcee looked away, hiding her expression from everyone. That felt horrible to Leon, telling her such a hard truth. But false hope was far more cruel. She went back to what she was doing, clearly trying to keep herself distracted. The uncertain look on her face was easy to see.

The others were no better off. When Optimus was not doing what he could to find Jackson or Wesker, he was trying his best to help June cope with everything that was happening. June, herself, was where she had been been since the incident. She was still unresponsive to anyone, not saying a single word. She wasn't catatonic, she still went through all the motions of the day to day routines. But she had been completely mute and near emotionless. It was like she was a shell of the woman she had been. Jill believed that she had been traumatized by seeing what happened to Jack. Neither Optimus, Arcee, nor Jill could break through to her.

Jill was more a less the same as Arcee, as she had been close to Jackson herself. More than once, he had noticed the wetness in her eyes whenever she disappeared somewhere in the base. He'd actually saw her crying by herself when she thought no one was around once already. He couldn't blame her.

What concerned Leon the most were the children. Miko had been by Bulkhead's side since they had arrived beneath Raccoon City. He had been told that she was already less than her usual, energetic self since the destruction of Jasper. But now, Leon could see the constant state of fear she was in. Twice, she had been forced to abandon her safe haven because of Umbrella and no doubt, she feared it happening again. She had become more active as she could around the base, mostly helping Rebecca mix herbs and Jill care for June. Though while Leon could tell she genuinely wanted to help the mother, it was obvious that she was really keeping herself busy so as not to face the reality of the situation. She had been through a lot and was not ready to confront it yet, especially now that Jack wasn't there.

Rafael was a truly sad case, as the once shy but charming boy had become extremely closed off. He, like Miko, was scared. But he also seemed angry about something but wouldn't say what. He stayed close to Bumblebee, but his responses to anyone were always simple and quick answers, as if he had no desire for conversation. Leon feared that the experience he had endured not only scarred him, but it had left him jaded. He hoped that wasn't the case. Rafael was far too young to be this way.

Even Doctor Ratchet was at a low point, choosing to work on Jackson's replacement eye that was of not needed anymore. Leon hoped that this was the bottom for the three teams. Things couldn't get any worse or someone was going to break and he knew that it'd be one of the kids. They so desperately needed a win right now, either getting Wesker or bringing Jackson home.

Leon thought for a second. A recurring idea had come back to him once again. He had been playing with it for a while now, but was most uncertain if it would be the right move. But things couldn't stay the way they were at the moment. Everyone was close to the edge and they needed something to pull them back from it.

Leon left the main hall and retreated to a secluded area of the base. He found himself in what used to be an office space. Taking a seat at one of the cubicles, Leon pulled out his phone and pulled up a number. He did nothing but stare at it, debating whether or not he wanted to call her. She had come to him with her own doubts and had told him about Jackson Darby. But that meant she had been working with or for Wesker prior to that meeting. Could Leon trust Ada? Could he trust her to betray Albert Wesker for him? He kept asking himself that as he continued to stare at her number.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack was still sitting against the console in the same area Starscream had found him. It was funny to him. The G-Virus made him the perfect hunter, stronger, faster, near indestructible. Yet, it also robbed him the will to want to do anything with his down time. Whenever he wasn't hunting for food and staying on the move to stay ahead of Umbrella, he just stayed in one spot, waiting for enough time to pass before he felt he had to move again. But what else was there to do? Now that he had left his family behind and basically had nothing to live for, nothing really seemed to matter. It just all seemed pointless now.

"Great, I'm turning into Rust Cohle." He said to himself.

Jack rested his head back, against the console, attempting to get some shut eye. But then, he felt his chest pulse and he quickly stood up, extending two claws from between the knuckles of his right fist. He turned his mismatched eyes to the doorway, where after a few seconds, Starscream passively entered the room. He stopped just into the area when he saw that Jack was ready for him, looking as if he was staring at Megatron himself.

"I...don't mean to disturb you." He meekly said.

Jack was still in control, but he was also ready in case Starscream was up to something. Though, he knew that if he was, the green zone would take over.

"What do you want, Starscream?"

"Well...I just came for my intake."

Jack was confused, which Starscream appeared to recognize.

"My energon." He said, pointing to a corner of the room.

Jack hadn't notice a large tarp draped over something and could see a faint blue light coming from beneath it. He looked back to Starscream, who was clearly navigating a minefield in his head. Jack waved his hand, uncaringly, and Starscream cautiously moved forward while staying as far away from him as possible to get his energon. Once he did, he quickly made his way back out the room without another word. Jack waited for a few minutes before drifting off.

Another hour went by when Jack suddenly shot a black spike into the wall by the doorway. Starscream stuck his servo out from behind it in a surrendering manner.

"It's just me, don't shoot." He said.

"What now?" Jack asked impatiently.

Starscream stepped back into the doorway, looking even more unassertive than before.

"Well...uh..."

"Spit it out, Starscream." Jack said.

"The console...I need to use it."

Jack stood up, suddenly feeling suspicious.

"What for?"

Starscream appeared cautious again.

"Nothing important really."

Jack flexed his fingers and a large, talon like, blade came from above his wrist. Starscream was quick to give in.

"I-I need to monitor radio chatter."

Jack was still suspicious.

"Radio chatter?" He skeptically asked.

"For Decepticon activity...I need to know if they're up to something or if they're close by. You'd want to know if they're closing in on us, wouldn't you?"

Jack narrowed his eyes, not really trusting Starscream. He looked up at the console and used his black vine to pull himself up to the control panel.

"Alright, show me."

Starscream pulled back and was visibly unwilling to get too close to Jack. Jack found this kind of funny.

"What's the problem?"

"Uh...Well..."

"Come on, let's go. I wanna make sure they aren't close by either. Show me how it works."

Starscream seemed to swallow his fear and slowly approached the console.

"Um..."

He motioned to show that Jack was standing over the controls, which Jack moved away from. Starscream began powering the console, keeping his optics on Jack, very jittery about the whole thing. The console came on and he was about to input commands.

"No funny business, Starscream." Jack warned.

"O-Of course, not."

Starscream input his commands and began tuning something with a series of codes. Suddenly, sounds of static began coming through the screen. Starscream cycled through numerous codes, becoming more curious about the constant static between each of them.

"Still nothing?" He muttered to himself.

"What is it?" Jack asked, with a commanding tone.

Starscream nervously gave Jack his attention.

"Uh, the radio chatter...It's clear."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there _is_ no chatter, meaning no Decepticon activity."

Jack became intrigued.

"Is that out of the norm?"

"Normally, no. It happens every once in a while. But it's been like this more often than not. Over the last deca-cycle or so, there's been next to no activity from Megatron of his ranking officers."

Jack stepped forward, growing more curious.

"Deca-cycle? What is that, a week?"

"It's the same length as one lunar cycle on this planet?"

"A month, huh?" Jack said to himself.

He began thinking, wondering what this all meant.

"What was the last thing you heard from your 'Con buddies?"

Starscream, who was probably wondering why he was answering to a human of all things, thought for a few seconds.

"The last bit of chatter I heard was something about a failed mission to offline Optimus Prime. Megatron was apparently furious over it, more than usual anyway."

Jack tried to think of the last time Optimus had locked horns with Megatron.

"The Forge." He muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Starscream questioned.

Jack remembered his company and corrected himself.

"Nothing...What else have you heard?"

Jack didn't know why he was trying to get any information out of Starscream. Even if he did have something useful, it wouldn't do either him or the Autobots any good. It wasn't as if he could pass this intel on to Optimus, who even if he had known where they were after being compromised again, Jack wouldn't go anywhere near. Besides, the Autobots could handle the Decepticons. Unless Starscream had intel on Umbrella, there was no point to this.

"Well...Honestly, prior to that, things were still quiet. Megatron must've been preoccupied with something."

"Yeah." Jack said bitterly, knowing that he had been plotting with Wesker.

Jack didn't notice right away that Starscream had stopped listening in on the radio waves and was staring at him. When he glanced up and saw this, he became annoyed.

"What?" He asked.

Starscream must've realized what he was doing because he snapped out of it and took a step back.

"J-Jack, was it?"

"Yeah." Jack answered, cautiously.

"So...If you don't mind me asking...Are you...human?"

Jack was already done with this conversation.

"I mind you asking."

Starscream backpedaled.

"Uh, very well then."

Starscream went back to working at his console, or at least pretend to be, as Jack could tell. He was still glancing at him every few seconds.

"Can all humans do...whatever that was you were doing?"

"I said we're done with this conversation, Starscream."

"Yes, I know. But..."

"That means stop asking questions." Jack cut him off, impatiently.

"Alright, alright." Starscream said quickly. "No, need to get testy."

Again, Starscream began pretend he was working on something at the console. But Jack ignored by lifting his sleeve up and looking at his old scar. How ironic it felt to him that the one part he thought was still his was the part of his body that wasn't there.

"I'm not sure _what_ you are, Jack."

Jack shut his eyes, fed up with Starscream's refusal to keep his mouth shut.

"But I must say, if this is normal for humans, you're not as weak and pathetic as I thought you were."

Had Starscream not seen something coming from the side of his vision and reacted quickly enough, the extremely long spike that came out of Jack's wrist would've went straight through his optic. As it was, the needle-like end of it was less then an inch away from him. Standing on the console, was Jack, who was royally pissed by this point. Starscream held his hands up to try to defuse the situation.

"Pathetic was not what I meant to say." He nervously said.

"Shut. Up." Jack said.

"Alright. Alright...Not a word."

Starscream was truly scared from what Jack could see. But as mad as he was, he really didn't want to kill him. His mutation made him dangerous and uncontrollable once he was in the green zone, but as himself, Jack was no more cold-blooded than since before he met the Autobots. He had no reason to kill Starscream. Jack calmed himself down with a deep sigh and withdrew his spike.

"Get lost, Starscream." He said.

"Will do." Starscream replied.

The Seeker nearly left a dotted outline from where he was standing with how quickly he exited the room. Jack took a tired breath and sat down atop the console. But the fact that he would've gouged out Starscream's optics if he hadn't moved at the last second had left a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't know what came over him when he did that. He just got mad and reacted. He had never done that before and it wasn't because of the G-Virus. He was in full control that time. It was all starting to get to Jack and he was getting more scared than he already was. He was afraid that he was losing himself in the madness. He ran his head through his hair, which had gotten longer during his travels, and let his head hang low.

"I'm losing my mind."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

While the rest of the teams were brainstorming on how to find either Wesker or Jack, Rebecca was grounding up herbs for the missions. She wasn't a combative field agent like Chris or Jill, she was a medic. She could hold her own if she had to, but out there, her team relied of her to keep them from bleeding out or their wounds going septic when they took a hit. That's why she always spent her tome preparing herbal sprays for her teammates. No one ever died from having too much medicine. Well, unless it was like prescription drugs or something that you could overdose on, but...

Rebecca mentally slapped her own head. Even in her thoughts, she had her foot in her mouth.

"You dodo bird." She said to herself.

Rebecca kept on working, but looked to the other two presences in the room. Sitting in her wheelchair with the same dead expression she had for the last two weeks was June Darby. Like everyone else, Rebecca hoped that the mother wasn't too far gone. She hoped for Jackson to be found so that June could come back from this pit of despair she was free falling through. In the weeks that passed, she had regained her strength to walk without too much pain, but she just lacked the will to do so. Jill, Arcee, and Optimus kept her moving periodically, so as to avoid loss of muscle or sores. But if they hadn't been getting her to move, to eat, to do anything, June would've just sat in here wheelchair until she starved to death. Without her son, she really had no will to live.

Rebecca then turned to Miko, who was sitting behind her, brushing her hair. The young girl had really stepped up since the move. Before the first move, Miko was normally getting into trouble or causing mischief. At the blacksite, she was much more quiet and withdrawn, at least until Jack came back around. Now, though she was still quiet and a little closed off, she was out and about, helping any way she could. She asked Jill to teach her how to strip and clean handguns so she could do so for the team's sidearms. She'd even help Rebecca mix her herbs for first aid. But most of the time, she'd be with June, making sure she ate, helping her in and out of bed, walking with her around the base.

But all of this was to keep herself from thinking about Jackson and what he was doing, or might have done already. There was a cloud hanging over the whole base about that and no one wanted to talk about or even think it. But they all knew what it was. When someone feels they have nothing to lose, it often ends one way.

Having depressed herself, Rebecca took a break from her herbs and decided to stretch her legs. As she was about to leave, she turned to Miko.

"Hey, Miko?"

"Yeah, Becca?" She stopped brushing June's hair to reply.

"You've seen Raffy anywhere?"

Miko's expressed changed and she dropped her distracted facade.

"No...Raf's...Raf's been kinda doing his own thing. You know?"

Unfortunately, Rebecca did know.

"Alright, thanks."

Rebecca left Miko and June alone as the teen continued to brush the mother's hair. As she did, she began humming the hymn June had sung during the attack. Sadly, it didn't get the reaction Miko was hoping for. She stopped brushing and embraced June in her chair, resting her head in her neck.

"I miss him too, Ms. Darby. I really want him to come back...But everyone says he's still out there and he's okay, for now. Please, don't give up on us. We all really need you. Please, say something."

June didn't say anything, but Miko felt a tear fall on her hand. June was there, she wasn't lost. But she was down and didn't have it in her to get back up. They needed to find Jack or else June would never talk again...or worse."

" _We love you, June_." Miko said. " _Hang in there, okay_?"

Miko kissed the top of June's head and went back to brushing her hair. She was afraid to hope for anything less than things not getting worse than they already were. But she was also afraid of not having hope and ending up the same as June. Jack had lost hope and he was gone now. It was time for Miko to step up and be there for Rafael, just as Jack did with them. Even if he never came back, she was going to do right by him. She was going to make him proud.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Hey, Bee?"

Bumblebee looked down and saw Rebecca at his pedes.

"I wanna talk to the little guy. Is he around?"

Bumblebee responded, but of course, Rebecca could not understand him.

"Right, the beeps."

Even though she didn't a get word of what he was saying, Bumblebee's optics expressed clear concern, which _concerned_ Rebecca. The pair walked around the base, searching for Rafael. Unfortunately, the kid was nowhere to be found. Chris had mentioned Piers going up to the surface and the two figured that would be a good place to check. Sure enough, Rafael was sitting outside the Umbrella facility with Piers watching over him. However, Piers was keeping his distance, as if he didn't want to disturb Raf.

"Piers, what's up?" Rebecca asked. "What are you two doing out here?"

Piers looked to Rebecca for a second before turning back to Raf, who sat on the ground in the middle of the courtyard, focused on his laptop.

"The kid asked me if I could show him the way up. Apparently, he needed to get out from the bunker and get some fresh air. I figured I'd watch him until he was ready to go back down, just to keep him safe."

Bumblebee asked something of Piers, but he had no better luck getting it than Rebecca. Rebecca asked a few more questions of her own.

"How long have you both been up here?"

"About two hours...He's really into whatever game he's playing on that computer of his."

Rebecca and Bumblebee looked on at Raf, who hadn't acknowledged either of them at all.

"You can head back down if you want." Rebecca said. "We've got it from here."

"Alright...Just keep an eye out for wild dogs."

Piers looked on for a few seconds before leaving. Everyone seemed to be worried about Rafael. But then, he was the youngest person at the base. Rebecca and Bumblebee walked over to him and stopped just behind him. Rebecca hunched forward to get his attention.

"Hey, Raf." She called, but Rafael didn't respond. "What'cha doin' up here by yourself?"

"Piers is with me." He responded plainly.

The lack of emotion concerned the two of them.

"Okay...So, what are you doing?"

"Researching." He answered in the same way.

"On what? It's not like you've got homework to worry ab..."

Rebecca saw what he was looking at. It was a database of all known B.O.W.s and classes along with there characteristics and the like.

"Rafael, how did you..."

"Hacked your database."

Rebecca pulled back in shock, not just because of his answer, but how he answered it. This was not the child she was used to.

 **"Raf, that wasn't a good thing to do."** Bumblebee stated.

Rafael ignored Bumblebee and kept reading what was in from him.

 **"Are you listening?"**

"I heard you, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee's reaction was the same as Rebecca. This was not the lovable little buddy they both knew.

"Raf...Why did you hack our database?"

"So I can learn everything about every B.O.W. you guy's ever encountered."

"Okay...What for?"

"So if we're compromised again, I'll know all their weaknesses. So you guys can take them out when you go after Wesker."

There was a little more emotion in that answer, but it was anger.

"Raf..."

"Wesker found us twice already. Ms. Darby got hurt because of it and Agent Fowler's dead. I'm not gonna sit around and wait for it to happen again."

 **"It's not gonna happen again, buddy. Umbrella doesn't even know about this location."**

"You don't _know_ that, Bumblebee."

"Raf, listen." Rebecca said as she sat next to him. "We're taking every precaution to make sure you guys are all safe. Umbrella thinks this city is a dead zone. They'll never think to look here. It'll be alright."

Rafael didn't react in a way that insinuated he believed her. He didn't react at all, in fact.

"I know what this is about." She continued.

"I told you what it's about."

"Yeah, but I know what it's really about...You're worried about Jack."

Rafael stopped scrolling and his eyes stopped panning over the screen.

"We're all worried about Jack...But we're trying our best to find him and bring him back home."

Rafael lowered his head shut his eyes, but he wasn't crying. Rebecca saw his face. He looked angry.

"I _don't_ care."

Rebecca wasn't sure if she had really heard that.

"What?"

"I don't care about if you find Jack or not."

"Raf...I know you're scared, but you shouldn't say things..."

"I don't give a crap about what happens to Jack, not anymore."

"Raf!" Rebecca said in shock.

Rafael shut his laptop, stood up and went to head back down. Rebecca looked at him, unable to believe what she had just heard.

"I don't care where he is or what's happening to him. He made me and Miko a promise...and he broke it."

Rafael left without another word and Rebecca watched as a total stranger walked away from her. This was not the Rafael she had come to know. She knew he was struggling with what happened before the move, but she didn't know where this sudden hostility towards Jack came from. She looked up to Bumblebee, hoping for some kind of answer.

Bumblebee's expression wasn't nearly as shocked as hers. He must've seen this behavior before.

"'Bee, what going on?"

Bumblebee couldn't answer her with words. Instead, he played a recording from a few days ago. Bumblebee was talking in his own manner in the beginning, then Rafael's voice was heard.

:: _I don't care why he did it, Bumblebee. Jack promised us._ ::

From the tone of his voice, Rebecca could tell how upset he was.

:: _We were supposed to stick together, no matter what. No one was gonna be a hero...And then he left. He abandoned us...He left us alone with Umbrella...So, I don't care anymore. I don't care about Jack._ ::

Rebecca's heart fell to pieces as she listened to all this. It was worse than she thought. Rafael was worried about Jack, but he was also angry at him for running away. As smart as he was, he was still only a child and he was hurt by being left behind.

" _Oh...Raffy_." She sadly said.

 **::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

It was no secret to anyone who knew Starscream, Decepticon or otherwise, of his distaste for humanity. It extended to all organic lifeforms, in fact, but humans most of all. Because of their size, numbers, and the rate they multiply (to say nothing of mating habits beforehand), he saw them as vermin. How the Autobots could stomach their presence eluded him.

Suffice to say, he was not happy in the slightest at the current situation he was in. A human had trespassed into his territory. Worse, it was one of the Autobot's humans, who he flat out despised. But that wasn't enough, no, of course not. This human had taken over a part of his ship and was even ordering him around. Something had shifted horribly off balance in the natural order of things. Starscream was a Decepticon, a Commander of his own armada, once upon a time. How did he sink so low as to end up like this? If Airachnid ever found out of what he had been reduced to, she would torment him with the knowledge for eons to come.

But there was an opposite point to this situation. The human, Jack, had undergone a very drastic change.

Before all this, the war, the loss of Cybertron, Starscream was in fact a scientist. And while organic research was something he had no experience with, prior to coming to Earth, what Jack had become was very intriguing to him. Starscream was certain that whatever had happened to him was not normal, as he had neither seen nor heard of any such transformation. Not only that, Jack was actually capable of being a threat to a Cybertronian like himself. While his pride made him consider this a gross perversion of the balance of power, the scientist in him made him wonder how this came to be. A part of him, a small part, wanted to know more about Jack. Scrap, perhaps he could be of some use to Starscream. If he could control such a being, he might be able to use it against the Autobots, maybe even Megatron.

That was an entertaining little thought, but Starscream wasn't about to play that game. He was certain that Jack was more than capable of snuffing him out for good and as much as he hated having to tiptoe around him, he was not going to end up on the business end of those black spikes he was somehow able to produce from his body.

The bottom line was, Starscream was in a bad position. His location was compromised and he was currently sharing his living space with the enemy. It was becoming clear to him that he was going to have to abandon his hideout before Jack either brought the Autobots to him or just decided to take him out himself. The thought of being forced back on the run because of a human ticked the Seeker off something fierce. But no one knew better than Starscream the value of cutting losses.

"Starscream."

"Ah!'

Starscream nearly jumped out of his frame at the sound of Jack's voice, almost falling on his aft when he saw him in the corridor. He quickly backed into a wall, hoping the human wouldn't take a step closer. Of course, he was now cornered and if Jack decided to attacked, he would be thoroughly fragged.

"W-What is it...What do you want from me?"

Strangely enough, Jack didn't seem as hostile or belligerent as he was before. He still seemed exhausted and somewhat shutoff from the world around him. He looked up at Starscream, with a curious expression on his face.

"You've been listening in on the Decepticons for a while now, right?"

Once again, Starscream didn't like that he was now answering to Jack, but he wasn't going to say what he felt and risk getting impaled.

"I...I suppose."

Jack's expression was thoughtful and focused, as if he was planning something. Starscream could see the wheels in his head turning.

"Let me ask you...In the past few weeks, have you heard the names Umbrella or Wesker?"

Starscream was actually surprised at the question, because he was familiar with both those names. They met nothing to him and he never put much thought into either of them, aside from wondering why Megatron was so set on finding them, whatever they were.

"I have...A lot, actually."

Jack was thinking again, but he wasn't the only one. Now Starscream was asking himself questions of how Jack knew of these two names and why they were so important that both the Autobots and the Decepticons were chasing them.

"Could you listen in on the 'Cons some more?" He asked, genuinely, as if they weren't enemies.

But Starscream wasn't afraid, nor was he insulted, because he too wanted to know more about this. In fact, his own curiosity made him forget just how dangerous Jack had become.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Jack looked surprised that Starscream worked up the nerve to ask that.

"Why are you here? What are Umbrella and Wesker and why are the Autobots and Decepticons so interested in them?"

Strangely enough, these questions didn't set Jack off like the last time. In fact, Starscream could tell he had the answers, but he saw a reluctance to give them. Why was that? It wasn't as if Starscream could hurt him.

"And does this have anything to do with whatever happened to you? Because I'm fairly certain that no other human can do what I've seen you do."

Starscream observed Jack closely, trying to read him as best as he could. The human took a few moments and ultimately submitted to a decision.

"Tell you what, Screamer." He began. "You open up the comm link for me to listen to and I'll tell you everything that's happened since we last saw each other."

Starscream was thrown through a loop of confusion. While it was better than being ordered to do something, it still confused him as to why Jack was now bargaining with him instead of just threatening him. But Starscream wanted to know what was going on.

"Very well. But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not have to work at spike point so if you don't mind keeping those... _things_ away from me while I get started."

Jack sighed in exasperation.

"Fine, whatever."

This was a bizarre scenario Starscream had found himself in. For now, he was working alongside a human, allegedly. While it left a bitter taste in his mouth, he figured it was best to make nice with him until he figured out what was going on. He might've not cared about it at all in the past, but knowing that both sides had gotten mixed up in this Umbrella/Wesker business, Starscream had to wonder how big it was. And if it was _that_ big, eventually it would find its way to Starscream's door. So as far as he was concerned, he was just gathering information and being prepared. Of course, the situation had already ended up on his doorstep in the form of Jack and he had no idea that Jack was actually the center of this whole conflict.

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Very few people knew how to contact Ada and when someone outside of that small group wanted to get to her, they had to go through them. When her disposable phone rang, she figured that it could only be one of two people, Albert Wesker or Leon Kennedy.

"Who is this?" She cautiously asked.

There was a pause.

 _"Ada."_

Had it been Wesker, Ada's defense would've went up immediately. The untrustworthy bastard was not above setting her up and for all she knew, he could've been watching her, even as he called her. But hearing Leon's voice, her guard dropped and her heart skipped a beat. No one else could do that to her. But even if he was her only weakness, she wasn't going to let him hear it.

"Well, this is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

 _"Sorry, Ada. Things have gotten a little more...complicated."_

Ada tried not to be disappointed, as she expected as such. Men always seemed to complicate things.

"I'm guessing I won't be wearing my lacey garters and stockings this weekend."

She knew that whatever Leon was doing on the other end, what she said had flustered him. She loved to tease him.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure, handsome?"

Once again, Leon didn't answer too quickly.

 _"Ada...I need your help again."_

Ada was sitting down with her legs crossed, but hearing that Leon needed help made her stand up in intrigue, and perhaps a little worry.

"My help?" She asked.

 _"Another job, basically."_

Ada sat back down in her chair.

Things must've gotten more than just complicated if Leon had gone to her with another task.

"Is that so? Well, whatever it is, I'm sure I'm up to the task. But there's still the matter of your previous payment. In case you forgot, I have an IOU for one night with just the two of us."

 _"I haven't forgotten, Ada."_

"Well, you know me well enough to know that I'm not one to start a tab for my clients. Until I'm paid what I'm owed, we can't do any further business."

 _"Ada."_ He said, lowly.

"Hm, nope. No sell, gorgeous. You can use your sexy voice all you want, but I'm a woman of principle." She said as she slowly rotated in her chair.

 _"Ada, please...I'm desperate."_

Ada stopped her teasing when Leon told her that. He most certainly sounded desperate. What exactly happened that made things "complicated".

"What's going on, Leon?"

Ada could read his expression without seeing his face, just from the way he was breathing on the other line. He sounded exhausted and on edge.

 _"I need to find Albert Wesker."_

That's when Ada suddenly felt something in the pit of her stomach, worry she had rarely felt. Albert Wesker, yeah, he _would_ be at the center of Leon's complications. Those were two paths she'd hoped would never cross each other. Leon's skill was near superhuman at times, but even he was no match for Wesker.

"Leon, do have any idea who Albert Wesker is?"

 _"I know who he is, Ada, and how dangerous he is. That's why I need to stop him."_

Never before had Ada felt such panic for someone else and he wasn't even in immediate danger. But the thought of what Wesker could do to him...

"Listen to me, Leon. Listen very closely. Stay away from Albert Wesker. You have no idea of what that man is capable of."

 _"I'm afraid I do. I've seen it for myself."_

"What?"

 _"I know all about him and the T-Virus and what he's able to do."_

"If you know about him then why do you want to find him?"

 _"Because he has to be stopped. He's...He's in charge of Umbrella now."_

Ada had never been given information that she didn't already know, nor was it ever something as serious as this. Wesker at the head of Umbrella, that was truly frightening to her. The end of the world didn't seem too far off, all of a sudden.

 _"We can't allow him to take things further than they've already gone. We have to take him down. And you're the only person I know that can find him."_

Ada lowered her head. This was it. This was the moment she always knew would come, the moment where she had to pick her side and show where her allegiance truly lied.

 _"Ada...We need to find him and soon. You know what'll happen with him running Umbrella."_

She most certainly knew, alright. Wesker was always making power grabs and things always got too serious when he did. With him at the top, the scale of the fallout would be global. The question was, could he really be stopped?

 _"Ada?"_

Could Leon and The D.S.O. take him down? Or would they just be like countless others that were crushed by Umbrella? What was the next move for Ada? Would she align herself with Wesker, hoping to stay in his good graces to survive? Or could she help Leon and rid the world of a threat that needed to be removed? Could she truly align herself with the greater good? Or was her only option to do whatever it took to survive, even if it meant making an enemy of the only person she ever felt anything for? She hoped that Leon couldn't read her as she read him, otherwise, he'd know of how badly she was struggling with this decision.

 _"Ada, are you..."_

"A month, Leon." She said suddenly.

 _"What?"_

Yes, going against Wesker was not the smart play. The odds weren't in her favor. Throughout her career, she had taken lives and done truly reprehensible things to innocent people. If there was a hell, she knew where her eternity lied. Doing this one good deed would not wash away any of the bad, but it at least left her with one line she wouldn't cross. Leon saved her life, made her feel something for the first time since she was a child. She couldn't betray him, not even to save her own skin. She loved him, afraid as she was to admit that. But that love he felt back meant everything to her. If she lost it, she may as well have been dead anyway.

"If I do this for you...you're mine for a month. Call in some vacation time, turn your phone off, and forget about everything else. Give me that...and I'll help you."

The was a long pause on Leon's line, but he responded.

" _Ada..._ "

"Do we have a deal or not."

Another pause.

"Yes...Yes, we have a deal."

Ada knew that the chances of this actually working out were slim and in all likelihood, one of them was going to end up dead. But there was no suppressing the hope that things could be different this time, that maybe, the two of them could be happy, if only for a short while.

"I'll find him. But Leon...The time I getting from you, that's not just a payment to me. It's a promise you're making. Break it by dying..."

Ada didn't have the heart to threaten him.

"Don't break my heart, Leon."

Again, she could read him by how he sounded without speaking. She had taken his breath away. In truth, her heart was pounding just as much. They both wanted this and they were both terrified.

 _"I won't do that, Ada, not to you. Thank you."_

"You'll hear from me soon...Bye, Leon."

 _"Bye, Ada...Be safe."_

Ada hung up her end and stared at her screen for a few moment. She realized what she had just gotten herself into.

"What did you just do, girl?" She asked herself.

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It was at this point that Starscream was beginning to question his decision to help Jack. At the moment, he was carrying Jack in alt form, heading straight for the Nemesis.

'How did I end up like this, again?' He asked himself.

It happened while he and Jack were listening in on Decepticon chatter. Just as before, it was mostly quiet. But then, Jack heard that Soundwave was actually going down to Earth to search for Wesker himself by manually hacking any database he could get to. That told Starscream just how impatient Megatron was becoming.

Knowing full well that Soundwave was the Decepticon's spymaster, and Starscream made the mistake of mentioning that he could track the Nemesis through the Harbinger, Jack apparently saw an opportunity to steal intel from the Decepticons. He actually wanted to sneak aboard the warship, while Soundwave wasn't there to spot them, and steal the information from right under their noses.

The thought of it amused Starscream, but he didn't have a death wish. Obviously, he wanted nothing to do with this hair brained scheme of Jack's. Soundwave wasn't there, but Megatron still was. So of course, he refused to go along with Jack's plan.

That's when Jack gave him three options. Take him to Nemesis and help him or take his chances with a very ticked off human who was clearly not _as_ human as he appeared. The third option was that Jack contacted the Autobots and gave Starscream's location away. He mentioned that Optimus' femme Second In Command had found out about him being the one who snuffed out Cliffjumper and that she wanted payback for that.

Starscream didn't have many options, so there they were. Jack hadn't even explained what the pit was going on yet. This whole thing seemed like a bad idea and Starscream was tempted to just eject Jack from his cockpit and hope the fall would kill him. The only reason he didn't was because, with his luck, Jack would also have the ability to either fly or breath in space or both. The seeker wasn't taking that chance.

They caught up to the Nemesis and managed to fly in undetected. Starscream transformed with Jack in his servo, he used one of his vines to pull himself upon his shoulder. Starscream didn't care for that. He really didn't like the feel of whatever that vine was on his frame.

"Alright, which way to Soundwave's control station?" Jack asked as he pulled the shroud he grabbed before leaving over his head.

"You let me worry about that. Just stay put and don't make any noise."

"Tell me again why we didn't just use your little mini ground bridge."

" _Handheld_ ground bridge, and we didn't use it because it's not powerful enough to make such a jump. That and it'd be impossible to use it without being detected. Don't question my methods, human. I've done this plenty of times before."

Jack looked up at Starscream as he snuck around the corridors.

"What for?"

"To steal energon, what else?"

"So...You've been sneaking aboard one of the biggest Decepticon warships on Cybertron and getting past Soundwave and the drones...just to raid their refrigerator?

"Mock me if you wish, Jack. But down there, I'm on my own. When I can't find a mine to scavenge, I have to make do."

"Jeez, what the heck did you do that you had to go on the run in the first place?"

"How about you tell me what the pit Umbrella and Wesker are before I tell you anything else."

"Later for that. Just find that console so we can get the intel and get out of here."

Eventually, they managed to find what they were looking for, Soundwave's work station. Luckily enough, the area was unguarded. Starscream walked into the room and stood in front of the controls. He looked at Jack, expecting him to get started. Jack, of course, was confused as to what he wanted.

"You're the one who can read this mumbo jumbo, not me." Jack said.

" _I know that_ , but what exactly am I suppose to be looking for?" Starscream replied, impatiently.

"Just search for anything with the names Umbrella Corporation or Albert Wesker attached to it."

Starscream did just that and within seconds, numerous files appeared on the giant screen.

"Not as much as I thought they'd have." Jack said.

Starscream observed what he could, seeing translation of words like "bio-organic" and "viral outbreak". All this appeared to be matters of human affairs. Why was Megatron so focused on something like this?

"Alright, that looks like everything they have." Jack said. "Copy it all and let's get out of here."

Starscream scoffed smugly.

"That's be a foolish thing to do."

"What do you mean?"

"If I make of copy of this intel, it'll get logged into the system and Soundwave will know somebody was here. Once they check the surveillance footage, they'll see we were on the ship and they'll come looking for us."

Starscream saw that Jack hadn't thought of that.

"Scrap." Jack said.

"You see anything of importance with what they have?"

Jack observed the files as quickly, but thoroughly, as he could. But as he read every file, he was beginning to see that it was all information that was either outdated or already known by the B.S.A.A. Most of it were the locations of previously compromised blacksites of Umbrella, meaning they were abandoned. Among them were the three locations that the B.S.A.A. and the Autobots had attacked when Jack was captured. All in all, the intel he was looking was was useless to him.

"Dammit." Jack said.

"What?"

"It's worthless...They have nothing. They're in the dark, same as us."

Starscream was very annoyed that he had taken such a risk for no reason.

"Well, if that's the case, can we please _leave_ before we get spotted."

"Sure, let's just go." Jack said in defeat.

Starscream wiped his search clean and set everything back the way it was before. They made their way back to the exit that lead to the landing strip.

"This little espionage mission of yours better not lead any of them back to the Harbinger." Starscream said as he transformed.

"The longer we wait, the more likely it will."

Starscream flew off and the two headed back to their hideout. But neither of them had noticed that they had been spotted as they were heading back to strip, nor did they see that the Decepticon watch them leave.

Airachnid walked to the edge of the strip, watching Starscream disappear into the clouds. She would've followed him, but she didn't want to risk running into Soundwave, who was sure to be on his way back by now. She was still on a short leash with Megatron.

Nonetheless, she found this very interesting. Starscream had come back to the Nemesis and left just as quickly for seemingly no reason. And he had a human with him. What was the meaning behind this. What was he looking for aboard the Nemesis and why was he traveling with a human? Airachnid was going to have to pick her moment, but when the time came, she was going to find Starscream and get her own answers. And when she brought him back, she would once again have a lightning rod that took Megatron's wrath off of her for a while.

"The Harbinger, hm?" Airachnid said to herself. "Now, I know where to find you, my dear Starscream."

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 **Well, this is an interesting turn of events. Ahoy-hoy, my readers, and welcome back to Old Nightmare. So, when we last left off, Jack had a mostly inconvenient run in with Starscream. And as you can see, inconvenience was about all Starscream managed to be to him at first. We saw a little more of what Jack could do and how powerful his new form is. Jack has very "Greed-like" armored form that manifests around his flesh and the ability to produce spikes all over his body, very much like the Iron Maiden from RE5. This has no connection to the Plagas, it's just very similar. Also, the black vines that Jack keeps using is meant to look like the "Far Reach" spell from Dishonored, which pretty much what I based them on. They're not magical or spiritual or anything like that. They** ' **re physical and organic.**  
 **Let's talk about Miko and Rafael. Miko is trying her best to keep from panicking. I kind of want it to be like she's filling the role of Jack, now that he's gone. Miko doesn't think that she's ever going to see him again and she's going to try and be the one who keeps things together between her, Rafael and June. Rafael...I know I'm writing him a bit unlikable. His reason to be mad at Jack is not meant to be, well, reasonable. He's deliberately not seeing it from Jack's point of view because he's scared and angry. But as smart as he is, remember, he's just a kid. This whole thing has got him turned upside down and he's just venting and acting out and really, you can't blame him. The next chapter will have us going a little deeper into why he's so angry and how he feels about Jack running away. Poor kid.**  
 **Ada and Leon, whoo-boy, have things gotten serious between them. After playing the anti-hero for as long as she's known Leon, Ada finally picked a side. Whether or not it stays that way after it's all said and done is uncertain. But she knows a greater evil when she sees it and decided to run with someone she loves and not someone who's going to burn it all to the ground. Really hope things work out for her and Leon and they get to enjoy their month long getaway. Lucky bastard. Am I talking about Ada or Leon? You be the judge. (Why not both?)**  
 **Back to Jack and Starscream. Looks like we have an unlikely alliance between the two. I know that Starscream helping Jack happened a little fast, but he's mostly just in it for himself. Megatron being so gung-ho towards Umbrella is a huge red flag and since Starscream can't leave the planet like he tried to do in Rise of The Predacons, He's trying to learn as much as he can to protect himself. One of you believed that he would try to use Jack, and you would be right. But after seeing what Jack could do and how little Starscream could do to stop him, he's too smart and too scared to try and pull a fast one on him. Airachnid, on the other hand, we have no idea what she might try to do. And now that she's on Starscream's trail, she's on a collision course with our boy. How do you think she's gonna react to the new Jack Darby. She's in for a surprise, that's for sure.**  
 **Well, that's it for this chapter. Gotta get back to Airi and her path to recovery in ASOG and of course, the clash between Team Prime and Spawn in The Sad Man after. I'm really liking where this story is going and I can't wait to get back to it. I'll see you guys when I get there. Salutations, young cosmonauts.**


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